Pre-Season

How to Play FPL – A Beginner’s Guide to Fantasy Football

Fantasy Premier League is back for another season so Fantasy Football Scout are, once again, here to help.

Perhaps you’ve never played FPL before and have been roped into a mini-league by one of your overly keen friends. Or maybe you’re one of those die-hard Fantasy managers who needs a complete guide to show your clueless colleagues to make sure they definitely sign up to your mini-league?

Whoever you are, we hope this comprehensive guide tells you all you need to know about FPL this summer.

What is Fantasy Premier League?

Fantasy Premier League is a game that casts you in the role of a fantasy manager. You are given the task to pick a squad of real-life players who score points for your team based on their performances in their own matches.

Do I need to play in a league?

The game can be played solo, with managers pitching their team against all other registered managers in the world. However, the more exciting option is to enter your team in a private mini-league with your friends or colleagues.

How do I pick my team or squad?

FPL hands you a £100m budget which you spend on your squad. If you’re new to the game this budget may seem generous but once you take a look at the player list and start selecting, it’s a good bet that it will start getting eaten up pretty quickly. You will find that the most expensive players will be the forwards.

Your squad will have 15 players in it but only 11 can start every week, it’s up to you to decide which four to leave on the bench. They will only come into your side if members of your starting line-up do not register any minutes.

Can I change my lineup once I’ve picked it?

Before the start of the Premier League season, you can make an unlimited number of transfers as long as the value of your squad does not exceed the £100m budget. However, once the first deadline has passed you are limited to one free transfer per Gameweek. If you do not use it then you will have two free transfers the following Gameweek, although you cannot roll more than two. You are allowed to make more transfers on top of the free ones, but you will be charged four points for each switch made that is surplus to your allocation for that week.

The deadline for each Gameweek is always one hour before the kick-off time of the first fixture. Normally that’s at 11.30am UK time on a Saturday but there will be Friday night matches and mid-week fixtures too this season.

How do I allocate my budget?

In order to maintain a balance in your squad, it is best to split your budget evenly across the four different positions: goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards. Ideally, you want no more than two premium asset per position and would do well to fill your squad out with cheaper assets who are important to the so-called smaller clubs.

Doing so can reap rewards. Your players will get injuries, suspensions and loss of form and if you take steps to select a more balanced team in terms of cost, you may find it easier to repair any holes. Ideally, you need to aim for a situation whereby one-for-one transfers will be enough to fix any problems you may run into. Investing heavily in one area of the team and then being unlucky enough to run into problems in that area, could leave you with surplus cash that will be wasted without using additional transfers elsewhere in your team.

Okay, so which players do I pick?

As there a large number of players available in FPL there are lots of potentially effective combinations. At the early stage of the season, it’s harder to say which assets will be the most important, but we will always have plenty of content available to help you pick your initial squad and make your transfers now and through the season. So make sure you stick around!

How Do I Score Points?

There are lots of different ways to score points on FPL, with goals, assists and clean sheets the most important match events. Whoever you pick as captain will score double points in that Gameweek. Below is a grid which details how to score with players from different positions.

ActionPoints scored
Playing up to 60 minutes1
Playing more than 60 minutes2
Each goal scored by a goalkeeper/defender6
Each goal scored by a midfielder5
Each goal scored by a forward4
Each assist3
Clean sheet by a goalkeeper/defender (must play 60+ mins)4
Clean sheet by a midfielder (must play 60+ mins)1
Every three shots saved by a goalkeeper1
A penalty save by a goalkeeper5
Bonus points for the best players in a match1-3

Can My Team Lose Points?

Unfortunately, there are a few ways to lose points too.

ActionPoints scored
Missing a penalty-2
Every two goals conceded by a goalkeeper/defender-1
Each yellow card-1
Each red card-3
Each own goal-2

WHAT ARE THE CHIPS?

There are four different chips Fantasy managers can use on FPL this season to boost their overall points-score in any given Gameweek. They are:

Wildcard – The Wildcard allows you to make an unlimited number of transfers in a Gameweek without incurring any points hits. You have two of these to use. The first can be used at any point until December 29th, while the second can only be used after that date.

Triple Captain – Normally your chosen captain will score double points in a Gameweek. One week in the season you can deploy the Triple Captain chip to triple his score instead.

Bench Boost – Usually you are forced to bench four of your players but the Bench Boost allows you to, one week a season, add the points from your substitute to your overall Gameweek score.

Free Hit – Just like the Wildcard, this allows you to make any number of transfers you wish without losing points to transfer hits. However, it only lasts one Gameweek; once it is over your old team comes back. This is especially useful for blank or double Gameweeks.

What do I do if my players get injured or suspended?

You need to assess and react to injuries quickly. Monitor our injuries and bans table regularly to check on your team and if a player looks to be out for 2-3 weeks consider replacing him as this could well mean a 3-4 game absence given that he’d have to regain his match fitness and place in the side.

If you have players simply not playing you need to look at just how serious an issue this is on a player by player basis.

As a rule, though, it’s something you need to consider acting upon. Even if the player is getting on as a sub or even starting 75% of the first five games, if he has competition for his place or has been rotated, then it’s something you may have to deal with over the entire season. If you have an alternative on your shortlist who is more reliable and scoring well, it might be best to make the change early rather than have one player distract you and have you guarding transfers for the opening few months.

When should I sign new players for my team?

As for player form, this will fluctuate throughout the season. Keep an eye out for form players but don’t be tempted by one week wonders who hit a hat-trick and then never follow it up for the rest of the season. Sustained form and proven point scorers are what you’re after. Jumping on bandwagons can often be profitable but only when it’s being pulled by a player who can sustain their form.

There’s certainly a wealth of information to sift through on this website if you’re going to try to stay on top of things. We’ll bring you the information you need on a weekly basis to make informed decisions and there will be enough opinion from us and other visitors to the site to consider. Monitor our team news section week-by-week prior to fixtures and also check out the Scout Notes that we provide after every set of matches. These will point out any significant changes to team lineups and offer clues on which players have their place under threat at any given time, as well as those players coming into form.

Read more with Scout

Visit our PRE-SEASON PAGE to get the latest pointers from pre-season friendlies and read scout reports on new players by CLICKING HERE.

Pick your FPL team for 2018/19 using our list of best available players, sorted for your convenience by position and price:

Goalkeepers | Defenders: Budget | Defenders: Mid-Price and Premium | Midfielders: Budget | Midfielders: Mid-Price | Midfielders: Premium

Also check out our detailed statistical analysis articles on every team comparing data for the last two seasons to highlight the players to sign and the players to avoid:

Arsenal | Bournemouth | Brighton & Hove Albion | Burnley | Cardiff City | Chelsea | Crystal Palace | Everton | Fulham | Huddersfield Town | Leicester City | Liverpool | Manchester City | Manchester United | Newcastle United | Southampton | Tottenham Hotspur

Read them all in one place

Become a Member and access our data

Memberships for the 2018/19 campaign are now available for the pre-season price of just £12.50. This will increase to the regular price of £15 after the first Gameweek of the season.

Join now to get the following:

  • Plot your transfer strategies using the fully interactive Season Ticker.
  • Get projections for every Premier League player provided by the Rate My Team statistical model.
  • Use Rate My Team throughout the season to guide your selections and transfers.
  • Get access to over 130+ exclusive members articles over the season.
  • Analyse our OPTA-powered statistic tables specifically tailored for Fantasy Football Managers.
  • Use our exclusive tool to build custom stats tables from over 100 OPTA player and team stats.
  • View heatmaps and expected goals data for every player.
  • Use our powerful comparison tool to analyse players head-to-head.

CLICK HERE TO BECOME A FANTASY FOOTBALL SCOUT MEMBER

4,743 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Dāzzy
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Baines/Coleman & Walcott will be FPL gold if Marco Silva plays a 3-4-3 like he did at Watford.

    1. Urchin
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Already have Coleman in my first draft.

    2. Piggs Boson
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      To get the best out of Siggy, he needs to be a #10 imo.

      1. Eden Wizard
        • 5 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        Yea he could be #10 in the front 3, beauty of that system as per Chelsea / Hazard!

        1. Piggs Boson
          • 12 Years
          5 years, 8 months ago

          Yeah, I guess so. Will be interesting to see what he does in pre-season.

      2. Piggs Boson
        • 12 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        ....................Pickford
        Coleman Holgate Williams Baines
        .............Gueye Sneiderlin
        ..........Bolasie Siggy Walcott
        ......................Tosun

        1. Witty Pun: Not good at this…
          • 7 Years
          5 years, 8 months ago

          Mina in place of Holgate? 😮

          1. Piggs Boson
            • 12 Years
            5 years, 8 months ago

            Oh I have no idea what the CBs will be.

            I just read that Holgate and Williams had the best record so threw them in.

  2. The Tinkerman
    • 8 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Max Cap is sensible here, yes? Leaving out those who don’t play....

    Courtois
    Miranda, Trippier, Granqvist, Lovren, TobyA
    Coutinho, Modric, Lingard, Bentancur
    Suarez, Neymar, Lukaku

    1. Dāzzy
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Play it imo

  3. stosxri
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    A) Hazard>Kane, Isco>Rakitic, Carvajal>Pavard
    B)Hazard>Kane, Meunier>Maguire, Carvajal>Lovren

    Thoughts?

    1. subhojit123
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      B

  4. Dāzzy
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    So hard to find decent two way defensive rotations this season. Anyone got any good ones for £9.0m or less?

    1. HamezMace
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Cedric and Daniels start out pretty well.

      1. Andy_Social
        • 11 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        As they did last season. Turned out disappointing!!

    2. Andy_Social
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      You can get a Wolves/Leicester combo for a bit more.

  5. Urchin
    • 10 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Why do Fulham have so few players listed in the game? Sorry if this was discussed earlier, was just curious.

  6. FPL ZB
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Just curious:

    a) Jota and Mendy
    b) Siggy and Coleman

    1. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Tough one. Mendy really looks like a great option with those fixtures and he’s so attacking same goes for Coleman but I would favour City.
      Walcott could be an option over Jota.

    2. Dāzzy
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Wouldn't touch soggy with Walcott cheaper & better

    3. OldBenKenobi
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Like Jota but still not sure about game time for Mendy.
      Jota and Coleman probably best combo imo

  7. Gazpilicueta
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    World cup team, after three free transfers and no WIldcard to play!

    Subasic, Courtois
    Granqvist, Lovren, Maguire, Boyata, Fagner
    Coutinho, Lingard, Modric, Claesson, Cheryshev
    Kane, Hazard, Mbappe/Griezmann

    whadya think?

    1. Jebiga
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Just Cherishev and 3 Croats ? 🙂
      I would pick Golovin as well...

      1. Gazpilicueta
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        i have 3 non starters and 3 free transfers, sensible to use them on those right? only one is a midfielder so i can only get golovin or cheryshev, OR take a hit

        1. OldBenKenobi
          • 7 Years
          5 years, 8 months ago

          No need for hits. Your right to only replaced eliminated players

        2. Jebiga
          • 11 Years
          5 years, 8 months ago

          Thats true, but i dont fancy Croatia win at all...

  8. Jebiga
    • 11 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Is Laporte nailed for Manchester City ?

    1. James H
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      I do think he has a good chance of getting the majority of starts early on with the other three centre-backs at the World Cup. But definitely not nailed - this is Pep we're talking about!

      1. Jebiga
        • 11 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        Yea but Laporte looks like he is the best CB in Manchester City squad 😉

        1. James H
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 9 Years
          5 years, 8 months ago

          Maybe. He could be worth the risk for the first four Gameweeks, but when the CL returns, it'll be very tough to predict the City back four IMO.

    2. Eden Wizard
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Stump up the extra 0.5 for Mendy IMO

  9. Christina.
    • 14 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Still people are ignoring Gro$$(7m) and Baines(5.5m).

    Crazy.

    1. Eden Wizard
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Baines currently my GW1 captain but, worried about his mobility and age in a Silva team. Will monitor but big year for everton.

    2. Dāzzy
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Gros has terrible fixtures but Coleman or Baines is a non-brainer.

    3. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Prefer Coleman. Tosun on pens and Siggy on set peices?

      Groß should be good value not had a look at Brighton’s fixtures.

      1. Christina.
        • 14 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        Baines on P?

        1. Eden Wizard
          • 5 Years
          5 years, 8 months ago

          Did Baines take any pens with Siggy & Tozun on the pitch? Not to mention new manager..

          1. Christina.
            • 14 Years
            5 years, 8 months ago

            No idea.

        2. Jebiga
          • 11 Years
          5 years, 8 months ago

          You are right !
          What about Zaha ? He can explode too...

    4. Piggs Boson
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Gross seems a tad overpriced.

      And we all want to be believe Walcott can go back to scoring hattricks 😀

  10. OldBenKenobi
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    I really like the pricing structure and player classification this season.
    I can see this really opening up more options to people while still being balanced.

  11. A-VB
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Any news on Cavani so far ?
    Will he be playing today after limping off against Portugal ?

    1. Christina.
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      no

      1. A-VB
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        So no news on him ?
        I got kind of confused. Pardon my question structure Christina 🙂

        1. Christina.
          • 14 Years
          5 years, 8 months ago

          no he won't play. I read they hope he makes bench.

        2. Urchin
          • 10 Years
          5 years, 8 months ago

          Asked if the Paris Saint-Germain striker would start in the eagerly anticipated last-eight clash in Niznhy Novgorod, Tabarez said on Thursday: “I think we have given enough information about Cavani’s injury.

          “We have said what happened exactly and we have given documents to the press.

          “I am not going to say anything else about Cavani because I already have given enough information and I don’t want to get into games. In less than 24 hours you will know who will play and who will be on the bench.”

          “Some people are saying we are trying to play games, but we are not,” added the 71-year-old. “We want to play to win.”

  12. Bambi
    • 12 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Price prediction for Mitrovic? 6.0 seems likely?

    1. FPL Mentor
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      6.0/6.5 i reckon.

    2. Christina.
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      6.5

    3. OldBenKenobi
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      I can see him being 6.5 especially since sessengon is 6.5

    4. Jebiga
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Hes not worth, nobody will whistle penalty on him....

  13. FPL Mentor
    • 8 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Draft #0003

    Ederson Hennessey
    Valencia Davies Douglas Lowton Tomkins
    Sanchez Eriksen Sanè Jota Gunnarsson
    Firmino Zaha Wood

    Feeling Wolves can be quite solid at the back with Patricio coming in and they can play abit too. I'm expectinh them to do well.

    Hows it look??

    1. Andy_Social
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      If you have Ederson you'll play him every GW, so save 0.5 on your benched keeper.

    2. wolves_simmo
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Agree with us being solid. Our current wing backs will be seriously exposed in the Prem though but i expect us to strengthen in those areas (last night we've big for Zinchencko at city). As for our attackers I'd hold fire, Cav may be sold to Fulham, Jota could be an option but I fully expect us to bring in a focal point to our attack.

  14. Kuqi Monster
    • 13 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Good article for the FPL virgins amongst us.

    1. Gazpilicueta
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      ill read it anyway....

  15. CelticBhoy1
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Hi guys, who do you think is the best captain choice?

    A) Mbappe

    B) Lukaku

    C) Coutinho

    1. Rex Lapis
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      (C)outinho

    2. Jebiga
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Mbappe, no brainer

  16. luke25
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    I reckon Iheanacho could end up being a shrewd differential this season, especially if Mahrez goes, was playing quality towards the end of last season

  17. Rex Lapis
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Get Zobnin or Bentancur?

  18. Gazpilicueta
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Last question before I hit confirm and go to sleep.

    A) Mbappe and Golovin

    B) Griezmann and Cheryshev

    hit me up fantasy football scout!

    1. OldBenKenobi
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      B

    2. Jebiga
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      A

    3. quayle99
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      A

  19. Karan14
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Stones is nailed right?

    1. Eden Wizard
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Nailed to the bench while recovering from being nailed in the WC yes

      1. Karan14
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        I was asking for England vs Sweden

        1. OldBenKenobi
          • 7 Years
          5 years, 8 months ago

          Yes

        2. Eden Wizard
          • 5 Years
          5 years, 8 months ago

          Genuinely forgot about the WC - What is wrong with me. We need separate PL & WC threads now.

  20. trinzoo
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Lloris / Pickford
    Pavard / Lovren / Strinic / Maguire / Trippier
    Coutinho / Willian / Bentancur / Rakitic / Lingard
    Neymar / Griezmann / Perisic

    GTG? Have 25pts gap to make in $ML.

  21. Murder On Zidanesfloor
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    PRMT

    Mccarthy/ Fabianski
    Mendy/ TAA/ Coleman/ Daniels/ 4.0
    Sane/ Eriksen/ Mane/ Ramsey/ 4.5
    Aguero/ Zaha/ Tosun

    0.5 ITB, Thoughts?

  22. The Yorkshire Pirlo
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    How to fund Kane and Modric?

    A) Pavon > Gazinsky

    B) Pavon > Bentancur, Carvajal > Maguire -4

    Thanks.

  23. Salah'd n Sauce
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    For those who have actually seen much of Jota @ Wolves.....

    If it came down to it who would you choose...

    Jota
    Milivojevic

    1. Christina.
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      mili - proven. setp.

      1. Salah'd n Sauce
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        Ta. Mili lurking in my draft for sure.
        I'm taking Douglas from Wolves so I don't want to overload on risks

  24. Optic1
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Do we think Moses is pretty much nailed on the right again?

    1. HamezMace
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Long way to go until the season starts, and we don't even know who the manager will be. For now, yes.

      1. Optic1
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        Cheers

  25. Toast
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    World Cup query. Which one:

    A. Modric, Bentancur, Maguire
    B. Willian, Bentancur, T. Silva

    Thanks

    1. Richd
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      A. You have pens and the better defender.

    2. Speédy
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      A easily

      1. Urchin
        • 10 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        Howdy Speedy, good to see you back.
        All good?

  26. Richd
    • 11 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    This is very confusing. I wish fpl could have waited a week so we could discuss one format of the game.

    McDonald’s is getting to crunch time. Especially if you don’t have a wildcard.

    I’m going to keep my 3.9 keeper and Inui as fodder and roll with 13 players. One of which will be some Russian defender dross. Not on wildcard.

    5 England players.
    2 Brazil.
    1 France.
    1 Croatia.
    1 Russian.
    2 Belgian
    1 swede

    1. Deulofail
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      I have the same except 2 Croatia & 1 Belgian 🙂

    2. HamezMace
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      You have 5 England so you might as well start getting insurance quotes for that new Kia now.

  27. LSP
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Anyone playing their max captain?

  28. Pauntley
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Which of the following do you prefer in midfield?

    a) Jota and Cairney
    b) Sessegnon and Neves

    thanks

  29. Speédy
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Lingard or Alli for WC? Price doesn't matter

    1. HamezMace
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 8 months ago

      Lingard.
      Alli hasn't looked 100%

      1. quayle99
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 8 months ago

        Alli more expensive, Alli maybe injured/unfit. Allis not had a good competition. Lingard

  30. quayle99
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 8 months ago

    Premier League time!
    Whats everyones thoughts on Salah, I was pretty happy I managed to squeeze him in but then realised I had no Man City except in goal.
    Do I need to rethink this?

    Fabianski, Ederson
    Robertson, Dunk, Cedric, Ward, Daniels,
    Miki, Salah, Milivojevic, Sessegnon, Stephens
    Kane, Aubamayang, Quaner