More and more gamers are putting down their controllers as FIFA 19 comes to a close.

It's almost been a year since the latest instalment of EA Sports' flagship game series was released and now its audience are gearing up for FIFA 20 to hit the shelves.

There is always so much anticipation surrounding every year's new game, with EA adding new features, game modes and - of course - unveiling their latest player ratings.

FIFA Ultimate Team has always been the most popular game mode and fans feel very passionately about how certainly players match up to one another statistically.

And while specific traits such as pace aren't as crucial as they used to be five years ago, the slightest shifts in numbers can dictate whether gamers splash their coins or not.

Goodbye to FIFA 19

We can all remembers players like Victor Ibarbo, Emmanuel Emenike and Alexander Esswein that were absolute gods on Ultimate Team back in the day.

Bearing that in mind, it makes sense to embark on one final retrospective look at FIFA 19 just before its thrown on the pyre of EA Sports releases that came before it.

One of the most interesting things to assess is: who were the most popular players on this year's Ultimate Team?

Restraints with coins obviously mean that the most used players aren't necessarily the best ones; it's all about finding a balance between which cards are the best value for money.

So, using the data collected by FUTBin and the maths by YouTuber Danny Aarons, we can unveil the most popular starting XI across all of FIFA 19. Take a look down below: 

Very interesting indeed.

Fabinho is the most used player in total after featuring in 80 million games, while N'Golo Kante and Raphael Varane join him on the podium with over 70 million selections.

There's a strong representation of the Premier League, too, with Sergio Aguero leading the line, Virgil van Dijk marshalling the defence and Kyle Walker bombing up the right flank.

In terms of the highest rated player, Neymar takes that acclaim on the left wing at 92 and has the benefit of his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe standing beside him. 

Finally, the only Serie A player comes in the form of Alex Sandro at left-back and despite a slew of mistakes in the last 12 months, David de Gea is the number one pick between the sticks.

It may only be FIFA, but we know that starting XI would do some serious damage in the real world and only time will tell how many of those players will continue to be popular into FIFA 20.