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Jon
Betting Expert

22 December 2024

How to Win at Fantasy Premier League

fantasy football tips

Fantasy Premier League
is the most popular fantasy football competition in the world. With wannabe managers from all over the world competing for the honour of being crowned champion. However, for many of us, it’s all about winning our Super League.  Especially if there’s cash involved or even just bragging rights over our mates or work colleagues.

The beauty of Fantasy Premier League is its simplicity, with managers getting £100 million to spend on a squad of players.  Which includes two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and three attacking players. Each week, you then select the Starting 11 that you expect to score the most points during that particular Game Week.

We are going to look at the Fantasy Premier League game and figure out the best strategy for winning.  There are some rookie errors which need to be avoided at all costs.  And the great news is that you don’t even need to be a football expert in order to perform well at FPL.

How to Pick Your Squad

First thing’s first, we get the chance to select a brand new squad before a ball has even been kicked. This means we’re like a kid in a sweet shop, putting together a dream squad before realising that the total cost massively exceeds the £100 million mark.  With managers then needing to swap out some of the more expensive players for budget options.

Let’s face it, we don’t quite know how the early part of the season is going to pan out.  And it therefore pays to spread the love and select players from lots of different clubs. By all means, selecting some of the more obvious players from the bigger teams.  But there’s no need to sweat it if you don’t get off to a flyer in Game Week 1.

You might not even choose to use your entire £100 million budget in the first week.  Keeping some back for a transfer or two in the following Game Week. It’s also worth thinking about a potential change that you might make further down the line.  And making sure that you are spreading the money between defence, midfield and attack rather than be too top-heavy.

When to Make Free Transfers in Fantasy Premier League

Every Game Week, managers get the chance to make one free transfer.  And this can be done before a particular deadline which tends to be an hour before the first kick-off of that particular GW. However, should you choose not to make any transfers for that Game Week.  Then you will get that free transfer rolled into the next round and that will mean two free transfers.

There’s an obvious advantage to racking up two free transfers, considering that you get far more flexibility. For example, rather than a like-for-like transfer at a similar price, you might alternatively sub out a cheap defender and an expensive striker for an expensive defender and a cheap striker.

Some managers like to make their FPL transfers well in advance of the Game Week deadline.  Although there’s an obvious risk of a player potentially getting a knock or an injury by going down this route. Alternatively, some will wait to try and find out team news before going ahead and committing to making a transfer.

Study the Fixture List to Get an Advantage

Reviewing the fixture list is undoubtedly helpful when it comes to choosing your team and also making transfers. It’s clear that each team will have a stretch of fixtures which are perceived as easy.  And also a batch of games where they might be up against some of the tougher teams in the Premier League.

It largely goes without saying that a lot of big points are generally racked up by players when they are facing easier opponents.  And it’s therefore worth looking ahead at the next four, six or even eight fixtures.  For each of the teams playing and working out which sides have the most favourable run of games.

There are often Premier League fixture spreadsheets that can be downloaded or accessed.  Which can reveal the easy and hard run of games which each team will experience. However, the landscape can easily change considering that you get surprise packages as teams often punch above their perceived weight.

When to Play Your Fantasy Premier League Wildcard

During the course of the Premier League season, there is the opportunity to play two Wildcards. With one available during the first half of the campaign and the second on offer when it comes to the second half of the season. A Wildcard is a fantastic opportunity to make unlimited changes to your squad although there is still a budget in place.

It’s possible to play your Wildcard as early as Game Week 2 should you feel as though wholesale changes are necessary after a poor first Game Week.  Although the majority of managers will wait until a later stage to activate this chip.  Considering that it might be regarded as premature to make changes based on little evidence.

One of the biggest mistakes FPL managers make is to overreact to literally Game Week 1.  And make changes based on the fact that some players have only achieved a meagre total.  Although they might find that the GW1 star performers don’t actually emulate those points totals on a future basis.

You have until GW19 to make a first Wildcard and the second Wildcard could actually be activated before GW38.  Although there is no “right” time to use them and a manager will have to judge a time when they want to make a handful of changes to their team due to poor form, injury or a change of fixtures.

When to Use Your Bench Boost Chip in FPL

Using the Bench Boost chip is definitely the best one when it comes to Fantasy Premier League. With managers getting one particular Game Week during the season where all fifteen players in their squad count towards a particular score rather than just eleven. This can often lead to a big points total, especially if the chip is activated during a Double Game Week.

Indeed, Double Game Weeks tend to pop up during the second half of the season.  Which effectively means that certain teams will have two matches as part of a particular Game Week. These DGW’s are an ideal opportunity to activate a Bench Boost chip.  Which means you could actually have fifteen players all having two games each, which means thirty shots at scoring points.

You might be wondering how you get fifteen players in your squad who all have a DGW.  And that is where the second wildcard can often come in handy. Should you activate this during that particular Game Week, then you have the chance to load up on players who each are likely to play two matches in the space of seven days.

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          Fantasy Premier League Price Rises and Falls

          If you’re a regular player of the Fantasy Premier League game, you will notice that player values can rise and fall during the course of the season. A good FPL manager might have a team value of £100.0 million at the beginning of the season.  But find the value increasing to £102 million or even £105 million as the campaign progresses.

          The reason why an FPL squad might increase in value is due to the fact that a player’s popularity might see their value increase by 0.1 million.  And there might be several rises in a short space of time. This happens particularly with cheap strikers who prove to get among the goals in the Premier League and managers will look to add them into the squad.

          There is a way of getting an indication of which players will rise and fall in a particular Game Week. Naturally, a player who is scoring big points on a weekly basis will undoubtedly rise in price.  And you can even use the filters on the FPL website to see the players who are most transferred in and transferred out during a typical Game Week.

          It’s especially important to be aware of price changes if you’re operating on a tight budget.  And a player rising by 0.1 million could make all the difference over whether you’re able to afford them. One of the benefits to making an early transfer is getting a player in more cheaply than you might find a few days later.

          We have added the latest highest player points chart below as at 10th November 2021.

          Live Fantasy Premier League Highest Player Points Snapshot image

          Top Tips for Winning Your FPL Super League

          It’s sometimes hard to compete with the pro Fantasy Premier League players who are competing for the top thousand players.  Although it should be easy enough to beat your friends in the Super League providing that you stick to a few basics.

          Ultimately, you should start with a balanced squad where money is apportioned relatively evenly across various departments. OK, so you might go for a couple of budget goalkeepers although the defence, midfield and attack should all have a healthy blend of expensive, mid-price and cheap players to ensure that you can easily shift players in and out.

          For example, if you buy three mid-price strikers and then want to buy one of the top-range forwards.  You can’t just do a straight swap and would have to compromise one of the most expensive midfielders and have to really tinker with your squad.

          Naturally, you will want to pick players who operate for the leading clubs. There is no point trying to reinvent the wheel and go for lots of leftfield picks. Indeed, if the world and his wife are going for a particular player, it might make sense to follow the crowd.  Unless you really feel as though the money can be better spent elsewhere. Alternatively look at the Football Player points statistics for an insight into possible player changes during the season.

          WhatAcca.com have put together below some “How to place an accumulator bet guides” for our readers to enjoy.

          How to place an accumulator bet on Betfred

          Resources on how to place an accumulator bet on Bet Victor

          Understand how to place an accumulator bet on Bet365

          Learn how to place an accumulator bet on William Hill

          Pick Fantasy Premier League Differential Players

          It is often finding those key differentials which are going to give you the edge over your rivals. This is especially the case if you can identify a defender at 4.0 million who is going to play regularly.  And be a potential source of points. Ultimately, you need to have every player in your squad featuring regularly.

          It’s often worth looking at players from newly-promoted clubs and also whether certain players have been classed in the wrong position. It might be that an FPL defender is actually playing in midfield.  And that would mean the chance to get clean sheet points if their team doesn’t ship any goals and they can also get assist and goal points.

          Choose the Right FPL Captain Every Game Week

          One of the bottom lines is that your captain will score double points for a particular Game Week.  And it should be regarded as having twelve players in the sense that you get twice as many points for your captain. Every Friday, FPL managers are debating over which player to give the armband and it can make a big difference.

          When it comes to choosing the right captain, you should generally favour an attacking player which might be a midfielder or a striker. Ideally this player should operate for one of the leading Premier League clubs and be up against one of the lower-ranked teams. It’s even better if they’re playing as the home side.

          You should also be confident that your captain is going to start the game and play most of the match. There should be as strong as possible supporting argument for why this player is going to outscore the other players in your team so you can rack up the points you need.

          Naturally, we want our player with armband to score goals.  One way of getting this right is looking at the Anytime Scorer betting odds for each match.  This helps to understand the players who are most likely to find the net for the next Game Week. It’s great to be able to have the fullest confidence in your team and captain before the next kick-off.

          Why not check out our latest publication on Why Computer Generated Betting Tips don’t work.

          Jon

          Betting Expert
          I've made What Acca to try and help people starting out with accumulator betting. The possibilities of these types of bets are pretty much endless, with the major attraction coming from the fact that a lot of money can be won for very little outlay. What Acca will hopefully teach you how to make more profitable accumulator bets whilst also eradicating some of the mistakes that I have made over the years.

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