Strategies for Beginning Your Journey in the 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League
The new season of the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is underway, and it's time for football fans to test their managerial skills and compete against friends, family, and millions of players worldwide. Here's a guide on how to get started.
FPL is the official fantasy game of the world's most popular football league. To join, head to the Fantasy Premier League website or the 'Fantasy' section of the Premier League app and sign up.
Once signed up, players must build a squad of 15 within a budget of £100m. Two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders, and three forwards need to be picked. Each player has a value, with Mohamed Salah being the most expensive at £14.5m and the cheapest starting at £4.0m.
After the squad is confirmed, a team name must be chosen, which can be changed throughout the season. Team names often contain witty puns related to past and present players.
Players can get bonus points if they perform well during a game. Points are awarded based on factors like goals, assists, clean sheets, minutes played, defensive contributions, and saves. However, points can also be deducted for conceding goals, yellow cards, red cards, penalty misses, and own goals.
After submitting a squad, players must pick a starting XI with rules regarding the formation. Only 11 players score points each week through the course of the season. A minimum of three defenders must be played at any time.
A captain can be chosen each week, who scores double points, and a vice-captain, who gets double points only if the player you selected as captain does not play at all. These selections can be changed each gameweek.
Players can compete in private leagues, perfect for competing against friends and family, or join public leagues, such as against everyone in the world, in your country, against fellow fans of your supported club, and the gameweek in which you started.
During the season, there are eight chips that can be played: two Wildcards, two Free Hits, two Triple Captains, and two Bench Boosts. Each chip can be used only once in the first half or second half of the season, and they do not carry over.
It's essential to keep up-to-date with when each gameweek starts and plan accordingly. Selections are locked in once the gameweek starts, so missing the deadline (usually 90 minutes before the first game of a gameweek starts) results in players starting a week behind, with no points for the first gameweek.
The value of players fluctuates through the season, with good performances increasing a player's value and poor performances or non-selection causing values to drop. FPL also gives a visual guide to how difficult the next three fixtures for players are.
So, are you ready to manage your dream team and compete in the world's most popular football league? Head to the Fantasy Premier League website or app now and start building your squad for the 2025/26 season, which starts on August 15, 2025. Good luck!
