The Ultimate Guide to FPL 24/25

It's back! Some would say it's the most wonderful time of the year. But as FPL managers, we also know that it can be stressful. It's important to get the season off to the right start. So whether you've never played FPL before or you're a seasoned veteran, you're going to need a guide.

Better FPL is one of the best Fantasy Premier League tools at your disposal. So before you set up your team, you'll need this guide. Bookmark this one for later!

How to play Fantasy Premier League

For the newcomers, here's a quick explainer of the Fantasy Premier League. The aim of the game is to collect as many points as possible over the course of the Premier League season. Your team will compete against other FPL managers worldwide until one winner remains. On top of that, you can compete in leagues for supporters of your favorite club or in mini-leagues with your friends.

At the start of the season, you select a squad of 15 players. Each match, eleven of these will be your starting XI while the rest will make up your bench. You can change your squad a little bit every week (more on that later).

Your starting XI must always include at least:

  • One goalkeeper
  • Three defenders
  • One forward

But you can put them in any order you like.

When the Premier League matches begin, what the players do in real life affects the number of points you get. This includes:

  • Playing up to 60 minutes: 1 point
  • Playing 60 minutes or more: 2 points
  • For each goal scored by a defender: 6 points
  • For each goal scored by a goalkeeper: 10 points
  • For each goal scored by a midfielder: 5 points
  • For each goal scored by a forward: 4 points
  • For each goal assist: 3 points
  • For a clean sheet by a goalkeeper or a defender: 4 points
  • For a clean sheet by a midfielder: 1 point
  • For every 3 shot saves by a goalkeeper: 1 point
  • For each penalty save: 5 points
  • For each penalty miss: -2 points
  • For every 2 goals conceded by a goalkeeper or defender: -1 point
  • For each yellow card: -1 point
  • For each red card: -3 points
  • For each own goal: -2 points

There are also bonus points awarded for the best players on the pitch. Players can gain 1-3 bonus points depending on how well they played, so choose carefully!

You have to select a captain too. Your captain gets double points. But warning: they also get double minus points, so a red card could be -6! Your vice-captain meanwhile gets the standard points, but if your captain doesn't play, they take over to collect the doubles.

Players on your bench don't collect points (unless you play your Bench Boost chip). But if a player in your starting XI doesn't start, the game will automatically substitute in the first player on your bench. Make sure you order your bench players accordingly.

FPL 2024 Tips

So that's the basics out of the way. Now if you want to absolutely dominate your Fantasy Premier League this year, you'll need these tips.

Budget well - especially for keepers

You only have £100m to play with in the FPL. Players are priced based on how good they are and how in demand they are. So you can't just fill your team with the best players. Since only one goalkeeper can play every week, it's wise to select one expensive goalkeeper and then choose a cheaper one as your backup.

Have a strong bench

Football is unpredictable. We all know that pre-season friendlies rarely indicate the outcome of the season, for instance. So in fantasy football, you should never neglect your bench. Ensure that you have a strong enough bench to collect points even if one of your starters is unexpectedly injured or rotated.

Be patient

Every week you get one free transfer. If you don't use it, it rolls over to the next week, and you can collect up to five free transfers. But when it comes to using them, don't rush it.

You have until 90 minutes before kickoff of the first match of the gameweek to choose your team. The squad sheets won't be out at this point. However, you can scour Twitter for news leaks and manager press conferences to get an estimate. This helps you make the best transfers.

Know your set-piece takers

Each team has specific players who take set pieces. These players will be most likely to collect points from free kicks and penalties. They might even get those all-important bonus points!

So find out who the penalty takers are and find a way to get them in your FPL team!

Use your wildcard wisely

There are several 'chips' in FPL. These are basically Fantasy Premier League tools that you can use to make your team more powerful. This includes the wildcard chip; you get two of these throughout the season. One is available before December 29 and the second is available after that.

It's tempting to use your wildcard after you have a bad gameweek. But don't! Instead, use it when you need to overhaul your entire squad due to a fixture swing.

Maximise double gameweeks

When fixtures are postponed, there's a blank gameweek. Those fixtures are moved to another week within the season, creating a double gameweek. Blank and double gameweeks are important opportunities for an FPL manager.

Swap out any players on a blank gameweek for someone who will be playing. And during a double gameweek, include as many players as you can with two games. Maximum points haul!

Players to target

So who should you put in your team this year? Right now, we only have last season and pre-season games to go off. We never know what will happen in the Fantasy Premier League as time goes on, but at least as a starting point, these are our best guesses.

Goalkeepers

  • £4.0 (bench): keep an eye on pre-season games for your FPL team
  • £4.5 (target): Flekken, Sanchez, Henderson
  • £5.0 (avoid): Pickford, Leno, Pope, Martinez
  • £5.5 (neutral): Raya, Ederson, Alisson

Defenders

  • £4.0 (bench): Faes, Barco, Greaves
  • £4.5 (target): Konsa, Livramento, Dunk, Ait Nouri
  • £5.0-£5.5 (avoid): Maatsen, Porro, Tarkowski
  • £6.0-£7.0 (target): Alexander-Arnold, Gvardiol

Midfielders

  • £4.5 (bench): Winks, Bergvall, Sangare
  • £5.0-£5.5 (wait and watch): Smith-Rowe, Hudson Odoi, Elanga
  • £6.0 (avoid): Dewsbury-Hall
  • £6.5 (wait and watch): Gibbs-White, Nkunku, Mitoma, Szoboszlai
  • £7.0-£7.5 (target): Eze, Gordon, Jota, Mbeumo, Rashford
  • £8.5 (avoid): Odegaard, Bruno
  • £9.5-£10.5 (target): Cole Palmer, Foden, Saka, Son
  • £12.5 (neutral): Salah

Forwards

  • £4.5 (bench): keep an eye on transfers
  • £5-£5.5 (avoid): Joao Pedro
  • £6.0-£6.5 (wait and watch): Muniz, Calvert-Lewin, Wissa
  • £7.0-£7.5 (target): Toney, Solanke, Gakpo, Richarlison
  • £8.0-£9.0 (neutral): Havertz, Isak, Watkins
  • £15.0 (target): Haaland

FPL Team Structures

When playing Fantasy Premier League, you have a couple of options for structuring your FPL team. Ideally, you want a couple of the best FPL players who will get you a big points haul. But you can't afford to fill your team with all of these.

So you can structure your team like this:

  • Haaland and Salah plus one or two premium defenders
  • Haaland and Salah plus one premium midfielder
  • Salah, one premium midfielder, two premium defenders
  • Haaland and 2-3 premium defenders

Of course, these are just options. Usually, FPL managers like to start their teams with these players and build from there. As the league goes on and the Opta stats unfold, you'll definitely need to switch up your team.

Win your mini-league with Better FPL

Do you want to storm to victory in your league? Perhaps you've got some forfeits on the line that you definitely want to avoid. That's what Better FPL is for. It's time to get the data you need and the stats you want to make your FPL team as great as can be. In fact, it's one of the best Fantasy Premier League tools available.

So what are you waiting for?

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