Three creators tested Riccardo Calafiori’s Road to the Knockouts card over the weekend and all three landed in the same place: a very good defender, but play him at centre back or CDM, not at left back. At about 153,000 coins he is the most expensive player SBC in FC 27 right now, and only a third of voters back that price.
- Price: about 153,195 coins (Monday 9 November, 13:06 CET)
- Positions: LB, with CB, CDM and CM
- Upgrades: +1 PlayStyle, +1 on two stats and +1 overall if Arsenal deliver in the Champions League
- Community: 74% like the card, 34% back the price
| Player | Rating | Pos | Nation | Club | PAC | SHO | PAS | DRI | DEF | PHY | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riccardo Calafiori | 86 | LB, CB, CDM, CM |  Italy |  Arsenal | 82 | 74 | 80 | 82 | 85 | 86 | Live |
Calafiori SBC: cost and requirements
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| Cheapest solution | about 153,195 coins (Monday 9 November, 13:06 CET) |
| Requirement | one challenge, players rated 45 or higher, combined score of 135,000 |
| Cheapest fodder | 63 cards: two 86s, sixty 85s and one 84 |
| Released | Sunday 8 November, 19:00 CET |
| Expires | Sunday 15 November, 19:00 CET |
This is a score SBC, not an eleven-player squad: you hand in cards until their combined score reaches 135,000, and the cheapest way to get there is a mountain of 85s. The price opened at about 149,000 on Sunday evening and sat around 153,000 on Monday afternoon, because fodder has not dropped since the weekend.
For comparison, RTTK Openda costs about 109,000 and the Showdown pair Schertenleib and Smith about 18,500 each. Nobody completes Calafiori from a few spare cards. You either have a club full of 85s or you buy them.
How Calafiori’s RTTK upgrades work
Arsenal play in the Champions League, so the card follows the Champions League rules, and only matches after Sunday’s release count.
| Step | What Arsenal must do | What the card gets |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nothing: the base card | 86 LB |
| 2 | Win 3 league-phase matches | +1 PlayStyle |
| 3 | Score in 3 separate matches | +1 defending, +1 physical |
| 4 | Finish in the top 8 of the league phase | +1 overall (87) |
Four league-phase matchdays remain between late November and 28 January, so Arsenal need three wins and three scoring games out of four for the first two steps. The top-8 finish is decided after the last matchday, so the full 87 card would not arrive before the end of January. Treat the base card as what you are buying and the upgrades as a bonus.
Calafiori’s card: the good and the bad
- Positions: LB, with CB, CDM and CM
- Skills / weak foot: 3★ / 5★, left footed
- Height / AcceleRATE: 188 cm, Lengthy
- PlayStyles: Pinged Pass, Long Ball, Jockey, Block and Bruiser
- Best fit: CB or CDM with a Shadow chemistry style
| Stat | Value | Stat | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interceptions | 86 | Acceleration | 82 |
| Sliding tackle | 86 | Sprint speed | 82 |
| Standing tackle | 85 | Short passing | 82 |
| Defensive awareness | 83 | Long passing | 80 |
| Strength | 88 | Long shots | 85 |
| Jumping | 87 | Agility | 73 |
The good
This is a defender who actually defends. 86 interceptions, 86 sliding tackle and 85 standing tackle come with Jockey and Block, and 88 strength, 87 jumping and Bruiser at 188 cm mean he wins the physical battles too. Lengthy AcceleRATE suits a tall centre back who covers ground late in a run.
He also plays out from the back better than most defenders. Pinged Pass and Long Ball with 82 short passing turn him into the first pass of your attack, and the 5★ weak foot means he is never caught on the wrong side. Add 85 long shots and he is dangerous when a clearance drops to him on the edge of the box.
The bad
He is not a modern full back. 82 pace is enough, but 73 agility and 73 balance make him slow to turn, and a quick winger who gets him on the half turn will go past him. That is why every reviewer moved him inside.
3★ skills limit him on the ball, there is no Intercept PlayStyle despite the high interception stat, and none of his five PlayStyles is a PlayStyle+. And then there is the price: 153,000 coins buys a lot of defender on the transfer market.
What the creators say
Futcard Review scored him 8.9 out of 10 and a BUY at around 150,000 coins, calling him an absolute beast as a CDM or CB. His positives were the physicality, the defending, the passing PlayStyles, the positions and the 5★ weak foot; his negatives the 3★ skills, the missing Intercept, the occasional lack of agility and the cost.
InceptionFC played him at centre back first and CDM second, and praised his defensive animations, his tackles and how big his interception radius feels. He found the card slow off the mark and short of agility for a left back in a pace-driven game, but his conclusion was simple: “This is a good card.”
Morsey called the SBC a set-it-and-forget-it option and an obvious one if you can afford it, with a Shadow chemistry style at CB or CDM. He noted that he is neither the fastest nor the most mobile defender, which rules out left back for him too, and that at 140,000 to 146,000 when he checked the price was not cheap at all.
What the community thinks
| Vote | Result |
|---|---|
| SBC price | 34% positive (1,290 votes) |
| Card rating | 74% positive (461 votes) |
| Tier placement | 26% put him in the second tier (643 votes) |
The pattern is familiar from Openda: the card is liked, the price is not. Openda sits at 68% for his price at about 109,000, so the extra 44,000 for Calafiori is where most voters draw the line.
Our verdict: do him, as a centre back
If you can afford him and need a long-term centre back or CDM, Calafiori is the best defender SBC FC 27 has offered so far. Premier League and Italy squads get a card that wins tackles, headers and duels, passes out from the back and has three upgrades waiting. Set him at CB with Shadow and forget about him, as Morsey put it.
Skip him if you wanted a left back, or if 153,000 coins means selling players you use. The price follows the fodder market and may ease during the week, and the upgrades will not arrive before late January either way.
Calafiori SBC: FAQ
How much does the Calafiori RTTK SBC cost?
About 153,195 coins for the cheapest solution on Monday 9 November at 13:06 CET, up from about 149,000 when it went live on Sunday evening. It is a score SBC: 135,000 combined score in one challenge.
Is RTTK Calafiori better at CB or LB?
Centre back or CDM. His 85 defending, 86 physical, 188 cm and Jockey, Block and Bruiser suit the middle, while 73 agility makes him slow to turn against wingers at left back. Three creators who tested him came to the same conclusion.
When does the Calafiori SBC expire, and how does he upgrade?
The SBC runs until Sunday 15 November at 19:00 CET. The card gets +1 PlayStyle if Arsenal win three Champions League league-phase matches, +1 defending and +1 physical if they score in three separate matches, and +1 overall to 87 if they finish in the top 8. Only matches after 8 November count.
More: Sunday’s drop: Calafiori, Underdog Run evo and what left · RTTK Openda SBC review · RTTK upgrade tracker: every card and rule · Every live FC 27 SBC with cost and verdict
Sources: EA SPORTS FC 27 SBC and player data, community votes, Futcard Review, InceptionFC and Morsey on YouTube, EA Help: how SBCs work.
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