Changing Pro Evolution Soccer to eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer this year meant that Konami’s plan to focus this game as an esports game. This can also be seen from the online match feature that exists in PES 2020.

Different from an offline match that you usually do with your friends which you have memorized his playstyle, in the online match you will face new opponents with a new and different playstyle. To go against new opponents, you the knowledge about many formations.

You don’t have to memorize all the existing formations in PES, all you need is a summary of the four best formations in PES 202 that you can use in different scenarios.

4-3-3 (or 4-2-1-3 in PES 2020)

Good for: Players that love to attack from the wing then penetrate the penalty box.

How to attack: This formation takes advantage of your winger’s ability to penetrate the core of your opponent’s defense and make a direct shot or do crossing pass to your forward

In this formation, you need your winger to use the width of the field and as high as possible in the opponent’s area. Use the “Hug the Touchline” option in advance instruction on the formation setting. 

It doesn’t matter if you play with a slow pace or do counter-attacks with this formation, but make sure you can do long passes and good support players.

How to defend: When using this formation, your defense is prone to opponent’s counter-attack coming from the wing because your wing defender normally does overlap and haven’t returned to their position.

To counter this, you need two mid-field players as DMF that can cover the empty space being left by your defender when they’re overlapping.

What you need: Players with great dribbling skills on the wing, great skill on finishing inside the opponent’s penalty box, and DMF with high stamina.

4-2-1-2-1 (4-3-2-1 or PES 2020)

Good for: Players that played a slow pace.

How to attack: The purpose of this formation is to move the ball forward to the opponent’s area slowly with short passes while maintaining ball possession.

In the settings, you can use “possessive attacking style” and build your offense by using “low support range” so your players won’t move too far from their position and you won’t run out of options to pass to.

How to defend: the advantage of this formation is when your opponent manages to steal the ball, your players will press the opponent’s players before they can take their chance. Use “aggressive pressuring” in the formation setting and frontline pressure to press the opponent’s players when they steal the ball.

Place 2 DMF players slightly behind so you can make back passes and will increase your chance to stop your opponent’s counter-attack attack.

What you need: Patience, short passes, and efficient movement when attacking.

5-3-2 (5-2-1-2 in PES 2020)

Good for: Players that give priority to defense

How to attack: The priority of this formation is defense bt you can’t win without scoring a goal. So you need two forwards that can do a quick counter-attack.

Long passes are the way to build your offense. In the formation, you can set your forwards as the target when doing counter-attacks.

How to defense: This is a defensive formation, so there’s not many to do when your opponent is attacking. You just need to make sure that you are pressing your opponent to a tight space. To press your opponent further, use two DMFs to press your opponent when they have ball possession.

What you need: Three strong center-def and also one strong and tall center-forward to receive long passes.

4-2-1-3

Good for: Players that wanted to be PES 2020 esports athlete

How to attack: The formation used by PES World Champ, UsMakebyle, is designed for one purpose: attack. The main focus of this formation is to control ¾ of the field with your mid-field player before passing the ball to your forward to score the goal.

It may sound simple, but you need to make sure that your three mid-field players are fast and also effective. Set “range of support” as low as possible so your mid-field players are always in the position to receive the ball.

How to defend: Using three forward will decrease our defensive capability. So to counter that, you need to steal the ball away from your opponent as often and as quick as possible.

Use the “frontline pressure” option and make sure to use the “defensive line” option as far as possible to give less space for your opponent to move in their own defensive space. You need to be careful because when you fail to steal the ball away, your opponent can penetrate your defense quickly.

What you need: Mid-field players with high passing skills and forwards with high finishing capability. You also need a good squad depth so you can change your players when you needed to, to keep the pressure high.