The Fantasy Premier League is one of the world’s most popular fantasy games. It’s a simple game to play but can be incredibly addictive – and lucrative if you’re successful! If you’re new to the Fantasy Premier League, this guide will teach you everything you need to know to get started.
We’ll cover basics such as how to create a team, how the scoring system works, the rules, and how to pick players for your team. So whether you’re a seasoned pro or a complete novice, read on for all the information you need to dominate this season’s Fantasy Premier League.
The FPL Basics
Players and Budget
At the beginning of the season, each FPL manager has a budget of £100 million to spend on assembling their Premier League squad. First, you must select two goalkeepers and five defenders (you can pick any combination of full-backs and center-backs), then choose five midfielders and three forwards. You get 15 slots, so the remaining four players are benched.
Formation
The 3-5-3 is the most popular Fantasy Football formation, as it offers a good balance of attacking and defensive players. But you can choose any formation you like, providing your team has at least one goalkeeper, one defender, one midfielder, and one forward.
Transfers
Each game week offers you one chance to make a transfer for free (FT). It will, however, cost you four points for any additional transfers you make. You’ve probably heard of taking a hit, right?
Captains and Vice Captains
You have to select a captain and vice every game week, but it’s best to stick to strong players like Mo Salah and Bruno Fernandes.
Your captain scores double points, and your vice-captain scores half of that.
If your captain doesn’t play, the vice-captain steps in to score double points. However, if both of them don’t play, you’re out of luck! You won’t earn any points from either.
Chip Time: When to use a chip?
Fantasy Premier League allows you one free hit every, one bench boost, a triple captain boost, and two wild cards.
The free hit allows you to make unlimited transfers for a single game week. However, all your players must still fit into your squad limits.
The bench boost adds the points of your bench players for a single game week to your total points, while the triple captain triples the points scored by your captain.
Wildcards can be played at any time in the season and allow you to make unlimited transfers while still fitting your squad into limits. Each wildcard can only be used once, so use it wisely!
Scoring
The scoring system rewards certain players more than others based on their positions: Forwards get four points for each goal they score, midfielders get five, and defenders are awarded six points. The BPS- bonus points system also awards a player up to three points for good performance.
Getting Started: Drafting Players
While you probably want to have all the football bigwigs in your team, your budget won’t allow it. It’s not a great idea to use all your budget in the first week either. You need to balance excellent players with some average ones.
Here are some guidelines on how to draft wisely;
Choose Value over Popularity
You want to draft players based on their value and not how popular they are. You needn’t have the best player in your team, as long as he is a good player with a low price tag.
For example, Riyad Mahrez played for Leicester City when they won the title; his goal-scoring ability was great, and it earned him more points than some of his counterparts from bigger teams like Manchester United or Arsenal would get playing similarly well. He also had an affordable price tag compared to other big names in EPL then. He did so well while playing for a relatively small team, which meant you could afford him and get more value.
For the Positions
Captaincy: While budgeting is wise, go all in for the captain. You need an excellent player here because your captain’s points are doubled for every game. Give it all you’ve got here, and don’t bargain too much as long as you can afford the player.
Vice-Captain: The vice-captain will play when the captain does not. As such, he is a must-have but falls second after the captain in terms of points. You’ll also need a good VC.
Goalkeeper: Goalkeepers are cheap and provided you have great defenders, you don’t need to spend much.
FPL Do’s and Don’ts
- Watch out for the drafting deadlines
- Don’t spend much on defensive midfielders; they won’t give you points
- Don’t spend much on the bench
- Don’t draft players you don’t need
- Don’t be biased- draft players by performance, not by preference or team loyalty.
So there you have it – a beginner’s guide to Fantasy Premier League. We hope that this article has helped shed some light on the basics of FPL and given you enough information to start building your very own winning team. From understanding how FPL works and what players cost to learning about chips and scoring, we hope that our advice will help pave your way on a successful journey through the world of fantasy football.
