Featuring top player picks and strategic advice for 2020/21 - from ex-champions and the best fantasy football tipsters
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Want to boss Fantasy Premier League this season? Of course you do – because you know that if Mike from accounts wins again, you'll be furiously trawling for jobs on LinkedIn faster than he can squeal 'Haaland!' again.
Read on with these insightful Premier League fantasy football tips. Heed advice from people who've taken home the trophy and write about it weekly on the best players to pick, how to use the Fantasy Premier League features best and much more. Remember: the deadline is Saturday, August 12 at 11:00 (BST).
Be sure to check out FantasyYIRMA and John Wallin (aka @FantasyGaffer) on X (formerly Twitter) and for all the best tips and tricks on all things Fantasy Football
Fantasy Premier League tips: 1. Did they play over the summer?
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FantasyYIRMA started in 2012 focused primarily on news and previews for the Fantasy Premier League. Check out our podcast Bang Average on your listening platform of choice where Ryan, John and Mike P chat all things Fantasy Football related each week.
Plenty of England stars are only just returning to training, and with such a long season last time around, there are extended breaks for plenty of stars, especially if a big club can afford to give them an extra week or two off. Keeping an eye on the teamsheets for friendlies in the weeks before the big kick-off should help steer your opening selections.
2. Who are the best-promoted players?
Assess the main players from the promoted sides. These teams always tend to offer kindly-priced options that help free up cash to spend elsewhere. Look for regular starters on set-piece or penalty duties and pinpoint defenders who perform well for clearances, blocks and interceptions, which helps their bonus point potential.
3. Who will be this season's bolters?
Analyse the player list. There are typically one or two players who emerge from the budget bracket to cement a role in our starting XIs. Pinpointing any players who are wrongly classified and playing in a more advanced role can also give us the edge – a 3-5-2 could allow certain full-backs to be pushed up into midfield, for example.
4. Which big club players to go for?
Utilise your three-player allocation for the top clubs wisely. Ruben Dias is a popular pick but generally offers little attacking threat compared to some of the more attacking full-backs on offer for similar prices. Focusing on the goal-getters or raiding defenders should reap greater rewards.
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5. Forget the new signings
Don’t go overboard on new arrivals. It’s easy to succumb to the allure of a big-name signing, but there’s a definite risk in overloading your squad with players unproven in the Premier League. Give them time to acclimatise and then reconsider if they show signs of settling.
6. Which games to target?
Always keep an eye on the fixtures. Those teams with favourable upcoming schedules are more likely to bring in the points, so it’s wise to be aware of runs of easy or tough fixtures and plan your transfers accordingly.
7. Always check the injury news
A long-term lay-off can suddenly promote players from the fringes and has the potential to offer us a cheap option with the security of starts. This is particularly important when looking in goal.
8. You'll need a strong bench
Keep your squad well stocked for Christmas. The threat of rest and rotation is rife over the festive period and strong benches are essential as top-flight managers shuffle their options to cope with the hectic fixture list.
Be patient with your three Chips. Both the 'Triple Captain' and 'Bench Boost' chips are particularly effective when wielded during double gameweeks. These are best played when explosive options such as Raheem Sterling or Mo Salah are handed a pair of fixtures in a gameweek to maximise their points potential.
10. Watch out for influential players
Watch the matches. Studying the statistics can help to an extent but there’s nothing quite like scouting your targets in action to help guide those vital transfer decisions.
11. Have a solid pre-season
You need to do your research, starting in the summer. A few weeks before the season starts I’ll look at injury news, transfers and so on, trying to find those unknown players that other people miss. Then in the last week of pre-season, when it’s still unlimited transfers, I’ll just start throwing players in, tossing teams around – you’re looking for that good combination to start with. Once you’re happy with your team – unless someone’s injured – then it kind of manages itself.
12. Don’t be afraid to gamble
It’s no good having the same team as everyone else. In defence, a lot of people go for five players from different teams, playing it safe. I’ll go for three from one, two from another. I’m only relying on two teams to keep a clean sheet then. You have to gamble a bit, especially at the end of the season. Don't be afraid to take form players out when they've gone cold – especially if you know most people around you have them in their teams.
13. But be mean in the market
Think like a real manager. A player might have a goal spurt, but is he actually any good? Would you normally want to buy him? You want the maximum games out of potential signings, so look at their upcoming fixtures, possible suspensions – no matter how desperately I want someone, I won’t buy them if they’re on four bookings. And, most importantly, don’t make drunken decisions at 1am. I’ve done that before.
14. Ignore reputations
The best players don’t always make the best team. I used to fall for the flashy, skilful players, but they weren’t earning enough points, and in most games defensive midfielders never win any. Attacking full-backs are always good, because you might get points at both ends – I played three left-backs in some games. And this is something I got over a long time ago: don’t ignore players just because you don’t like them.
15. Recharge the batteries
People’s teams usually go wrong when they forget about them, so keep a regular routine. Thursday and Friday, follow the managers’ press conferences and check the predicted line-ups. There are also some good Fantasy Football websites: but as soon as the weekend games are finished, unless there are midweek fixtures, switch off until Thursday again – you get too into it otherwise.
John Wallin, aka @fantasygaffer, began writing about Fantasy Premier League in 2010 and now has appeared in print, podcasts and on television. John co-founded the cult favorite Fantasy Premier League draft platform Togga and has hosted the Bang Average Podcast with Ryan (@FantasyYIRMA) and Mike (@BangAverageMike) since the 2017/18 season.
