Fantasy Premier League – Beginners Guide

Without a doubt, Premier League Fantasy is one of the biggest pastimes for football fans around the world. Every year, several million virtual managers compete with each other to show who is the best manager in the world. Precisely because of the popularity of Fantasy in the world, we decided to make this article. We will explain how to play this game correctly and how to be a competitive player.

Team selection

The first and basic rule is that each team can have a maximum of 15 players:

● Two goalkeepers
● Five defenders
● Five midfielders
● Three attackers

The starting budget is £100 million, and you can select a maximum of three players from each team. What should be noted is that the budget is variable during the season because the prices of football players rise and fall depending on many factors, such as form, participation in FPL teams, minutes, etc.

A specific player’s price needs to jump or fall by +/- £0.2 million for the budget to increase or decrease by +/- £0.1 million. For example, the starting price of Mohamed Salah is £ 12.5m. If his price jumps to £ 12.7m, all FPL managers who have an Egyptian on their team will have a budget of £ 100.1m.

Team management

Starting lineup

Of the 15 selected, the starting lineup has 11 players whose points count. There is a deadline before the start of each round, after which it is no longer possible to change the lineup, and we will talk about that in more detail later in the text.

All points that will bring the starting 11 will be included in the team’s total score, regularly updated during the round. If a player from the starting lineup does not play, the first substitution on the bench enters instead. That is why the order of reserve players before each round is significant.

An FPL manager can opt for any formation that includes a minimum of one goalkeeper, three defenders, and one striker.

Captain and deputy captain

Each manager must select one captain and a vice-captain before the start of each round. The points won by the captain will be doubled. If the captain does not play a single minute, the deputy captain’s points will be doubled. If neither the captain nor his deputy play in that round, no player from the lineup will have double points.

Selection of substitutes by priority

Reserve players serve as a solution to unforeseen circumstances, such as player not playing or postponing a match after a deadline. That is why it is essential to take care of the schedule of players on the bench.

Many times during the season, it will happen to you that the reserve player brings more points than the starter, and you will wish that a certain football player from the starting lineup does not play a match. Therefore, you must ensure that the first substitute is the player with the greatest potential for the so-called “return” (FPL effect).

The change will be made automatically at the end of the round, provided that the following rules:

● If the first goalkeeper did not play in his match, he will be replaced by a substitute, provided he was in the squad.
● If a particular defender, midfielder, or striker has not played, he will be replaced by the first player on the bench to play at least one minute in the current round. The only exception is the formation with three defenders – if one of them did not play, he is replaced by the first defender from the bench who was on the field.

Transfers

Transfers are the most exciting part of the Fantasy Premier League. They largely dictate how successful the manager will be during the season, and everyone must manage them responsibly. One mistake can cost you a lot of points, and you can lose your position on the table because of bad judgment. This part of Premier League Fantasy is similar to sports betting, where you need to have solid strategies to be successful.

Before the start of the first round, an unlimited number of transfers are allowed, so managers can tumble the lineup and rotate players to infinity.

After the first deadline, one free transfer is available for each subsequent round. Every additional transfer will deduct four (4) points from the total score in the first next round. So, if you brought two new players for the second round and won 70 points in the mentioned round, your total score at the end of the round will be 66 points.

If you do not make any transfer between the two rounds, it will be saved for the next one, so you will have two free ones. It is crucial to know that this is the maximum number of free replacements and that you cannot have three under any circumstances.

The maximum number of transfers between two rounds is 20. This number does not apply in the car when you activate the Wild Card or Free Hit chips, which will be discussed in the next paragraph.

Chips

Chips are used to further improve the results of a certain team during the season. Only one can be used during one round. There are four different chips:

Bench Boost – All points won by reserve players will be included in the team’s total score. This means that you can play with all 15 players in one round during the season.

Free Hit – By activating this chip, you can make an unlimited number of transfers for one round. At the end of that round, the existing team returns to you. For example, before the 26th round, you have five, six players who are either injured or suspended or dropped out of the first lineup of your team, and you only have one free transfer. By activating Free Hit, you can create the strongest team for the 26th round within the current budget, and for the 27th, the same team will be available to you again before the start of the mentioned round. In the simplest terms – Free Hit is a Wild Card for one round.

Triple Captain – Your captain’s points will be tripled in a specific round. In other cars, the points to the player to whom you have assigned the captain’s armband are doubled.

Wild Card – All transfers between rounds are free. This chip can significantly change the course of a manager’s season because you can change all 15 players and make serious progress in the next few rounds.

An important note is that you can reset the Bench Boost and Triple Captain chips once you activate and save them. This means that you can change your mind until the deadline.

Unlike these two chips, Free Hit cannot be undone. Once you’ve done the transfers, activated the Free Hit, and saved the changes, that’s it.

It is also essential that every manager consider that the Wild Card is available twice during the season, i.e., once in each calendar year. For example, in the 2021/2022 season, the first Wild Card can be activated until the start of the last round in 2021. The second is available immediately after that.

Like the Free Hit, once you make transfers and activate the Wild Card, it is not possible to cancel or postpone it.

Another note for Free Hit and Wild Card – if you first made some transfers and then decided to activate one of these two chips, those transfers will not count towards you, i.e., they will be deleted.

Deadline

All changes in the team, such as selecting the starting 11, transfers, selecting the captain, or activating the chip, must be done before the deadline. The rules for the deadline are the same in each round, i.e.; it starts 90 minutes before the start of the first game. This is most often on Saturday at noon (the first match starts at 13:30) or on Friday at 19:30 (the first match starts at 21:00).

In case you make any change after this time, it will be remembered for the next round.

Once you adopt these rules, you will be an equal competitor in all leagues. If you are patient and make the right strategy, the results will surely come sooner or later.

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