Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead analyses the Gameweek 18 transfers and strategies of some well-known Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
‘The Great and The Good’ this season are the FPL Godfather Mark Sutherns, the BlackBox pair of Az and Andy North, Scouts FPL General, Joe and Tom, the FPL Wire trio of Pras, Lateriser and Zophar, FPL celebrities FPL Harry, Martin Baker, Pingreen, FPL Frasier and Luke Williams, Hall of Famers Ben Crellin, Fabio Borges and Tom Dollimore, and last year’s mini-league winner Huss E.
“Yippee Ki‐Yay”
Ho-ho-hold your transfers. FPL Gameweek 18 arrived like an overexcited elf, tripped over the tinsel, and somehow still wiped out half our squads. While we were dreaming of festive hauls, the FPL gods decided to stuff our stockings with injuries, benchings, and press conference vagueness.
Alexander Isak (£10.3m) has gone full Home Alone – surgery done, lights off. Bruno Fernandes (£9.1m) joined him on the naughty list too, whereas some FPL managers had Christmas Eve levels of excitement as Cole Palmer (£10.4m) was feeling festive and fully charged – although his performance did little to sparkle.
Oh, spicing things up like Auntie Pat’s questionable charades performance, Gameweek 31 is already threatening us with a blank. Because nothing says Christmas spirit like planning blanks three months in advance.
All of this, plus we had the ‘Ghost of FPL Past’ appear, as news reached me that Ville Ronka, the Norwegian FPL enigma, had returned. More on that later.
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Tom Freeman and Joe Lepper finally hit the Bench Boost button and such patience paid off, topping the charts in a low-scoring week.
Joe fared better, gaining 18 from the sidelines rather than 11, but Tom was the overall weekly winner, thanks to an unlikely duo: Michael Keane (£4.8m) and Martin Dubravka (£4.0m).
While the rest of us questioned a third or fourth mince pie, Tom (along with Martin Barker) was actively cheering on the 0-0 between Burnley and Everton, a duty no one should ever have to complete.
Not far behind was FPL General, with 56 points. He led the non-chip brigade thanks to spicy differentials Florian Wirtz (£8.1m) and Rayan Cherki (£6.7m), being the only member to own this in-form Manchester City midfielder. Hipster FPL at its finest.
Captaincy, as ever, separated the brave from the template. Only General and Az captained Hugo Ekitike (£9.1m) and, while it wasn’t explosive, it was enough to nick a small edge as the masses marched in unison with Erling Haaland (£15.1m), whose reminded us that safety first is still unsafe.
RONKA RETURNS
You better watch out, you better not cry, Ville Rönkä is coming to town.
Widely regarded as an FPL legend, he has recorded nine top 10k finishes, including an extraordinary four inside the best 1k, cementing his place among the all-time greats. If FPL had a final boss, it would ask Ville for tips.
Remarkably, he has only once finished outside the top 100k, during the 2020/21 season, from which point he took a deliberate sabbatical until now.
So far, Ville Ronka’s FPL season has been a masterclass in patience. From loitering outside the top seven million in Gameweek 2, he’s calmly climbed inside the top 200k, helped by a perfectly timed Gameweek 13 Free Hit that delivered a whopping 77 points. It fired him up around 600,000 places.
Giving the Triple Captain chip to Haaland paid out a chunky 48 points in Gameweek 17, while a solid Gameweek 9 Bench Boost added 16 more, thanks to Joe Rodon (£4.0m). No hits taken, while banking a healthy 280 armband points. Slow start, sharp brain, steady climb.
I’ll keep an eye out and report back on his performance over the coming weeks. It’s worth noting that he would currently sit sixth, if in this The Great and The Good class.
TRANSFERS
Ekitike mania ran wild, with 13 of the 18 managers bringing him in. Close by were the 11 purchases of Matheus Cunha (£8.1m), confirming that a decent fixture run is the most powerful festive tipple in FPL.
17 managers transferred out the injured Fernandes, as a single FPL Review tear rolled down their cheek. At the same time, over half of them lost patience with Igor Thiago (£7.0m), who thought he’d punished them via more than an assist.
Fabio Borges ignored the Anfield rap and still owns zero Liverpool players. No Ekitike. No Virgil van Dijk (£5.9m). Not even an algorithmic Wirtz.
While all this was happening, the normally aggressive Lateriser was the only one who didn’t make a move at all.
Not everyone escaped unscathed, though. Four managers took a points hit, despite recently receiving five free transfers. Therefore, FPL General, Tom Freeman, Luke Williams and Martin Baker have each made eight transfers over the last three Gameweeks. Well, I guess Christmas is a time for excess.
‘THE GREAT AND THE GOOD’ TEMPLATE
The template has had a little midlife crisis, with Bruno rudely being shown the door and Cunha moving in, promising ‘vibes’ instead of points.
Meanwhile, Ekitike replaces Marc Guiu (£4.3m), as a brave third of these gaffers commit to the full three-up-top lifestyle. The rest are watching nervously from behind their two-forward safety blanket, whispering something about team structure and lack of striker depth.
Dubravka (94.4%), Raya (55.6%)
Timber (66.7%), O’Reilly (61.1%), Andersen (55.6%), van Dijk (55.6%), Rodon (50.0%)
Foden (100.0%), Cunha (77.8%), Saka (77.8%), Semenyo (61.1%), Minteh (44.4%)
Haaland (94.4%), Ekitike (77.8%), Thiago (44.4%)
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!
Team value has soared over the last few weeks, particularly for those who owned the inflation-busting Phil Foden (£9.0m). So let’s take a peek at the bank balances of our managers.
FPL Towering over them all is Mark Sutherns (£105.3m), flexing like a budget billionaire. The majority presumably think the entry fee to The Great and The Good is “exactly £103-ish, don’t ask why”, while Tom Freeman (£101.4m) is a rebel who doesn’t believe money is the secret to Fantasy success.
CONCLUSION
Well, that was Christmas and a mixed set of presents for The Great and The Good. Now, we’re entering the New Year. Let’s hope 2026 delivers a few more greens.
Anyway, that’s all from me for now, and remember: don’t have FPL nightmares.
For those affected by any of the topics raised above, you can find me here on Twitter or BlueSky.
