Using LiveFPL’s vast array of tools, we look at the squad make-ups and chip usage of the world’s leading Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
We will examine the 1,000 names in LiveFPL’s ‘Legendary Managers’ list – the historic cream of the crop, much like our own Hall of Fame – but chiefly those in 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’.
There is heaps of useful information beyond overall and top 10k figures on the LiveFPL site, of course, such as ownership stats for different rank tiers.
TOP 10K AND ‘ELITE’ MANAGERS: GAMEWEEK 25 CAPTAINCY
Over 80% of the top 10k handed the armband to a blanking Manchester United player, so those who captained Mohamed Salah (£12.9m) for Liverpool’s clash with Burnley on Sunday have a chance to take advantage – at least, before the Red Devils face Brighton on Tuesday.
Bruno Fernandes (£11.7m) was the only player who had an ‘effective ownership’ of in excess of 100% this weekend.
CAPTAINCY STATS FOR THE 1,000 ‘LEGENDARY MANAGERS’ IN GAMEWEEK 25
Amongst the historic greats, there was even more faith put in the misfiring United assets, with over 90% backing Fernandes and co.
Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.5m) was more widely fancied here than in the top 10k.
TOP 10K AND ‘ELITE’ MANAGERS: TEMPLATE SQUAD
The only change from the template squad last week? The return of a certain Egyptian, whose ownership figure has risen from 13.62% to 32.90%. When this article comes out next weekend, it may well have increased threefold.
Kevin De Bruyne‘s (£12.1m) top 10k ownership drops from 30.55% to 21.48%, with well-founded fears about a rest at Norwich and money need to invest in Fernandes/Salah the obvious motivation there.
Michail Antonio (£7.8m) and Phil Foden (£8.0m) are falling in popularity but they remain in the most-owned selection for now.
Son Heung-min (£10.7m) and Harry Kane (£12.2m) are veritable differentials, owned by fewer than 8% of these leading managers each, but like Salah, we can expect these numbers to shoot up ahead of Gameweek 26.
OWNERSHIP STATS FOR THE 1,000 ‘LEGENDARY MANAGERS’ IN GAMEWEEK 25
TOP 10K: CHIP USAGE
While there was a small number of Free Hit, Triple Captain and Bench Boost chips activated in Gameweek 25, over 3% of the top 10,000 deployed their second Wildcard.
The number of top 10k managers who have yet to use a single chip drops to under 40% as a consequence.
One in five of these leading bosses, indeed, have activated two or more as of Gameweek 25.
TOP 10K: TEMPLATE WILDCARD SQUAD
It’s worth taking a look at the template Wildcard squad off the back of what we discussed above, then.
Compared to last week’s Wildcard template, there are some notable changes. The likes of Odsonne Edouard (£6.5m), Michael Olise (£5.4m), Maxwel Cornet (£5.9m) and Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.4m) all make way, with reliability of starts and/or fitness concerns a factor with most of these players.
Salah is back along with Diogo Jota (£8.5m) – there are four Liverpool assets here, with the vote mostly split between the Portuguese and Andrew Robertson (£7.1m) – while Wout Weghorst (£6.5m), whose Burnley side have two Double Gameweeks upon them, makes a debut.
Comparing the wider template squad in the top 10k to the most-owned Wildcard side here, there are seven changes in all, including a completely different front three. Big in midfield and light up top seems to be the overall message.
TOP 10K: AVERAGE NUMBER OF PLAYERS OWNED PER TEAM FOR DOUBLE GAMEWEEKS 26 and 27
Looking ahead to Double Gameweek 26, the average top 10k manager owns just short of 6.5 players whose teams play twice in the next round of games – although the likes of Conor Gallagher (£6.2m) and Gabriel Martinelli (£5.3m), who will miss their respective sides’ first Gameweek 26 fixture, are among this number.
The average top 10,000 squad still only contains 0.177 Burnley players ahead of their back-to-back Double Gameweeks. The Clarets are the only side with four fixtures to contest across Gameweeks 26 and 27.
