Using LiveFPL’s array of tools, we look at the squad make-ups and chip usage of the world’s leading Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
Firstly we examine the 1,000 names in LiveFPL’s ‘Legendary Managers’ list – the historic cream of the crop, much like our own Hall of Fame – before taking a closer look at the top 10k in the current overall rankings.
Between the two groups (where there will of course be some overlap), these are the managers who can offer us a better gauge of FPL ownership and chip strategy, as opposed to the overall figures that are skewed by the growing number of untouched ‘ghost teams’.
THE ‘ELITE’ 1,000
Aaron Ramsdale and Robert Sanchez are each owned by over 40% of this ‘elite’ group and while the latter crowd will have to do without the suspended Brighton shot-stopper in Gameweek 12, most of Sanchez’s owners (over 75%) have a playing bench fodder option in Jason Steele or Ben Foster ready to come in.
While high ownerships for Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joao Cancelo and Tino Livramento are predictable, it’s interesting to see the ‘split vote’ when it comes to Chelsea defenders. Concerns over wing-back rotation obviously still abound as only 17% own the double-up of Ben Chilwell and Reece James. The hypothetically more secure Antonio Rudiger, indeed, still features in more than one in three of these managers’ squads.
Mohamed Salah remains a ‘must’ for all but a maverick/deleted few of our featured bosses but there is a notable lack of consensus when it comes to the second premium asset slot. Jamie Vardy was the next most-owned £10.0m+ player with just over 50% as of Gameweek 11 but with Chelsea to come next after a barren three weeks, it’s probably a fair assumption that some of his owners will be making a switch – even a temporary one – immediately after the international break. It’s here where there is immediate overall rank ground to be gained: Son Heung-min, Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo all feature in 20% of these managers’ squads or fewer and while those figures will no doubt rise ahead of Gameweek 12, they are still difference-makers ahead of appealing-looking fixtures this weekend.
Diogo Jota, whose first-team prospects look set to be boosted by a cluster of injuries at Liverpool, is also a differential of sorts at 14.8% ownership.
THE TOP 10,000
LiveFPL’s top 10k data is even more detailed as, along with ownership figures, we also get chip data.
Fewer than 7% of these leading managers still have their first Wildcard in play and, as is often the case with some of these early frontrunners, a significant number – 11.4% – have used two or more chips already.
You’ll unsurprisingly see a lot of overlap between the top 10k template above and the most-owned players among the ‘legendary managers’ group.
The Gameweek 11 Wildcard template below, however, makes for more interesting reading.
Manchester City players took a tumble in popularity ahead of an ultimately comfortable derby win, with Chelsea wing-backs unsurprisingly surging in ownership after their recent heroics.
The new budget midfielders on the block, Conor Gallagher and Emile Smith Rowe, enter the Wildcard template at the expense of the misfiring Bryan Mbeumo and bench fodder’s very own Josh Brownhill, while favourable fixtures and a new manager outweighed poor form when it came to Kane, who featured in almost one in three of these teams.
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