FIFA 18 top 10: Real Madrid beat Barcelona, 4 new players, Ronaldo-Messi battle for 1st

FIFA 18 is set to hit the stores later this month but EA Sports, the developers of the popular console gaming franchise, have been slowly building the excitement level of fans across the globe with their daily player ratings reveal. With the demo set to roll out this week, FIFA 18 enthusiasts have something more to look out for apart from the top 10 players in the game, which will probably be released later today.

After yesterday's top 11-20 players reveal, EA Sports have made it pretty clear who will be the top 10 players in FIFA 18. Last year, FIFA 17's top 10 players' list featured these superstars (inside the brackets are their FIFA 18 rankings):

Cristiano Ronaldo (N/A)

Lionel Messi (N/A)

Neymar (N/A)

Luis Suarez (N/A)

Manuel Neuer (N/A)

Gareth Bale (17th in FIFA 18)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (31st in FIFA 18)

Jerome Boateng (33rd in FIFA 18)

Robert Lewandowski (N/A)

David de Gea (11th in FIFA 18)

With four of last year's top 10 players having received downgrades owing to a multitude of factors, it means three new faces will replace them in FIFA 18's top 10.

Robert Lewandowski and Manuel Neuer's FIFA 18 ratings were already revealed by FIFA 18 in its teaser video. The two Bayern Munich megastars have 91 and 92 rated cards each.

While Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Jerome Boateng, Gareth Bale and David de Gea are out of the top 10 this time around, it is most likely they will be replaced by Chelsea's Eden Hazard, Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos and his teammate Toni Kross, and Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain.

Here is the list of top 10 players in FIFA 18:

Cristiano Ronaldo

Lionel Messi

Luis Suarez

Manuel Neuer

Neymar

Robert Lewandowski

Eden Hazard

Sergio Ramos

Toni Kroos

Gonzalo Higuain

While the above list is in no particular order, it is highly expected that Ronaldo will be the top-rated superstar in FIFA 18 owing to the Portuguese legend being the game's cover star. All the while, Ronaldo has also had a more productive 2016-17 season compared to Messi. The 33-year-old won both the Champions League title and La Liga with Real Madrid and is the odds-on favourite to win the Ballon d'Or.

With three Real Madrid players inside the top 10 and only Messi and Luis Suarez being Barcelona's representatives, it seems Los Blancos have won the FIFA 18 El Clasico battle.

Higuain, who started off with an 88-rated overall card in FIFA 18, will be inside the top 10 replacing another big penalty box king, Ibrahimovic. Hazard, who led Chelsea to the Premier League title win last season, will also make a foray into the top 10 this year.