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With the new 2021/22 Premier League season about to get underway it’s one of the most exciting times of the year for fantasy football managers.
The number of managers playing fantasy Premier League football has been growing exponentially over the last decade. This has led to so much more information being widely and freely available.
On the whole all this information is positive but it can get to a point where it gets too much and can cloud our judgement with so many opinions flying around.
Every so often we just need to cut out the noise and think with a cool head, and remember what has worked for us in the past.
This article is going to go through the top 10 tips for a successful season in FPL.
You will probably have heard or came across these before but and even subliminally or consciously already follow them. However it’s always good to revise these and bring them back fresh in our minds at the start of every new season.
1.Target players with multiple avenues to points
Targeting players with multiple avenues of points is vital in fantasy football. Ideally you want players who can get you points from goals, assists, bonus points and even clean sheets. Look at players who take free kicks, corners and penalties etc.
A perfect example of a type of player with multiple sources of points is Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m). Not only is he part of solid defence in Liverpool’s but he takes free kicks corners, scores goals and gets plenty of assists. As does his counterpart Andrew Robertson. Another player is Bruno Fernandes who is pretty much on all set pieces for Manchester United as well as penalties. His 18 goals and 14 last season tells you everything you need to know.
2. Don’t pay too much attention to last week’s points
This is something I was really guilty of when I first started playing fantasy football. For example Pierre Emile Hojberg scores a brace in Gameweek 1, and inevitably every man and his dog transfer him in for Gameweek 2 and he doesn’t score again all season.
You have to be able to distinguish between good fantasy players and good players in real life. They don’t always correlate and if you do your due diligence you will be able to spot them.
Don’t be afraid of ownership when it comes to these types of scenarios. Yes in this situation Hojberg’s ownership will rocket but a good fantasy football manager will know not to bring him anywhere near his team. Also trust yourself – if you think a certain player is going to do well and you have statistical evidence to back it don’t be put off by his low ownership or that he’s not being talked about. Fantasy football is all about bringing in next week’s points, not last weeks.
If you are selecting a goalkeeper for example look for a keeper who makes a lot of saves as this is more reliable than predicting a clean sheet and when they do keep a clean sheet they are likely to pick up bonus points due to the amount of saves they make.
3. Pay close attention to fixtures
Looking at fixtures and planning your team and moves is the bread and butter of how a fantasy football manager should be playing. You need to know what teams have good upcoming fixtures and target the best players from them teams.
Fairly straight forward you may be thinking but it’s easy to get drawn in to a player who scored 12 points and then the following weeks plays Manchester City away and then Liverpool. With the ownership and price rising and the talk of form over fixtures you can be easily sucked in.
Of course there are exceptions with some premium players who are fixture proof but there’s only a few of them in the game. With most players, target the fixtures and play on the right side of the odds and in the long run you will come out on top. Fixtures are a crucial element in any fantasy football game.
Fantasy Football Hub Fixture Ticker
Our Fixture Ticker has been updated this season with advanced features. You can select between Gameweek ranges and also switch to overall, defence and attack ratings. It’s more intuitive than ever.
4. Be very careful with hits
Transfers in fantasy football are one of the single most important factors in the game. Taking needless points hits and making rash transfers is a sure way to derail your season. Always think through your transfers. One of the key pieces of advice I give is to never make kneejerk or emotional transfers. Always let the dust settle and think with a cool head.
When making transfers and especially when taking hits always weigh up whether or not it’s worth it. Something may seem appealing on paper but when you look at it from a statistical point of view it may not be.
To give a simplified example say you want to take Patrick Bamford (£8.0m) out for a -4 hit and bring in Ollie Watkins (£7.5m) because the former blanked in his last game and the latter scored. Leeds United play Norwich at home and Aston Villa are up against Brentford at home.
Now thinking about it the fixtures are similar in terms of difficulty so you would need Watkins to score four more points than Bamford to break even. If the Leeds forward scores then you need Ollie to score at least a brace to break even. When you look at this way you’ll realise it’s not worth it as both players are proven goal scorers and can bag in any game.
5. Hold on to your chips
In the Fantasy Premier League game we are given three chips which we can use at any time in the season and two wildcards – one of which needs to be used by Gameweek 20 and another which can be used from Gameweek 20 onwards to the end of the season.
If you are not familiar with the chips then have a read of this article from Fantasy Football Hub which explains everything you need to know about them.
It’s always best to save your chips for the second half of the season when the Blank and Double Gameweeks come around.
Managers who use their wildcards and chips before the Blank and Double Gameweek’s will find this period very difficult to navigate without points hits and sacrifices. Remember the tortoise always beats the hare.
6. Pay close attention to stats
As I mentioned earlier there are so many sources of information now for fantasy football and so many stats you can look at. It’s important to filter this down and look at the metrics that matter.
For example for attackers I would recommend looking at Shots in the Box, Shots on Target, Expected Goals (xG), expected assists (xA), Big Chances Created and those closely related to these.
For defenders and goalkeepers clean sheet chance is the bread and butter and then you look at attacking threat as a secondary metric. These stats are crucial and will allow you to find those golden nuggets and players that others may not be able to identify.
Of course the eye test can help too but it’s hard to watch all 10 games every week. Also with stats you are dealing with facts but eye test can be subjective depending on the person watching. I would recommend looking at both but put a lot more emphasis on stats as they are not subjective. At the end of the day fantasy football is a numbers game.
Fantasy Football Hub’s OPTA Stats tool is perfect for looking at these types of stat metrics. It allows you to compare multiple players and in all the significant metrics you will need to determine future points.
You can filter on any position, and even between specific gameweeks and past seasons. Personally this is my go-to tool and I use it almost every single Gameweek.
7. Timing your transfers and building team value
Although it’s good to build team value for me this is the least important of the 10 tips. Timing your transfers to build team value could give you an advantage when it comes to the second half of the season. Building your team value at the start by making early transfers before players prices will increase your team value.
If you play it right you can build team value to somewhere between £110m to £117m. When it comes to the second wildcard and your rival only has around £99m this will swing the odds in your favour.
It gives you more flexibility in terms of which players you can get. The majority of the rises usually happen in the first five to six gameweeks. But always keep in mind pick the players who are good picks and rising in value.
There is no point in selecting ‘one hit wonders’ who are poor fantasy picks. Building team value and selecting the good players usually goes hand in hand.
Saying this at the end of the day points supersede team value so make sure as not to sacrifice points just to build your team value. This totally defeats the purpose and there is always a risk/reward scenario with this.
By making early transfers you are taking a decision with limited information and things like injuries can occur for example. I personally pick my battles with early transfers and will usually wait until the press conferences before making my moves.
At the start of the season when there are no midweek games, I tend to go earlier as chance of injuries and other issues are less. But once the Champions League and other cup competitions are in full flow in the second half of the season I tend to make the majority of my transfers as late as possible regardless of team value.
8. Learn from the best
The best way to learn and become a great fantasy football manager is to learn from other great managers who have proven records. At Fantasy Football Hub we have some of the best fantasy football managers in the world. Not only do they have breathtakingly good records but the quality of writing is top-notch.
Below are only some of the contributors at and their past achievements. You can read their articles by clicking their name and also follow and interact with them on Twitter.
Contributors:
Matthew Pennycae:
- FPL - three top 500 ranks, eight top 10k ranks.
- Sky FF 2nd place in 16/17
Matthews's record speaks for itself. It really is quite staggering how consistent his high ranks are and is surely one of the best to ever play FPL.
You can read Matthew’s Weekly Team Reveal and Strategy articles on the Hub.
Twitter: @FPLMatthew
Abdul Rehman:
- FPL – four top 1k ranks, five top 5k ranks
- Sky – 70th in 17/18
With an incredible four top 1k ranks and high finishes across different formats Abdul’s number based approach has done him very well. You may know him from Twitter for his weekly clean sheet and anytime scorer odds. With such a unique record and constant high finishes his weekly posts and Team Reveal articles is definitely one to watch out for.
Twitter: @FPL_Salah
The General:
- FPL – three top 500 finishes.
Mark McGettigan aka 'The General' needs no introduction. Fantasy Footballs biggest celebrity and prized asset. One of the first to take the plunge full time as a fantasy football content creator, he has his own website, numerous pods and appears on the Official FPL show. He writes his ‘Watchlist’ articles for Fantasy Football Hub which is very handy and is also the social media manager for Fantasy Football Hub.
Twitter: @FPLGeneral
Will Thomas:
- FPL – one top 100, four top 1k, and five top 10k finishes.
- SKY – five top 100 ranks and 27th
Will Thomas is not just the founder of Fantasy Football Hub but he’s also an extremely good fantasy manager, one of the best in fact. With numerous high finishes in both FPL and Sky he really set the standard from early and knows everything thing there is to know about fantasy football. The fresh ideas and content he has introduced via Fantasy Football Hub has been exceptional and he has allowed managers from the fantasy football community to create content and have a platform.
Twitter: @FFH_Will
Andrew Ferguson:
- Sun Dream Team – Winner 2020/21
- FPL –six top 1% finishes and top rank of 715th
- SKY – two top 100 and five top 500 finishes
Our head of content Andrew Ferguson seems to be a master of all trades in the fantasy football world. His consistency in so many different formats of the game is quite staggering. He won the season long Sun Dream Team game last year and bagged himself a healthy £75,000 for his troubles. He also has impressive records in FPL, Sky and Telegraph.
Twitter: @FFH_Fergi
9. Have a plan
Always have a plan in fantasy football. Think over the long term and don’t just transfer players in for one Gameweek. Look at the next five to six games at least. Look at teams who have good fixtures over a period of time and try to find teams who maybe coincide with a bad fixture run so you can better determine who to take out of your team as well as bring in.
Identifying fixture swings is a huge advantage and will give you a massive edge over your rivals. This is absolutely crucial in FPL and to give you a hand with this Fantasy Football Hub have a number of fixture planners you can access if you are a member.
10. Join Fantasy Football Hub
By joining Fantasy Football Hub you get access to all the above tools mentioned and also entry into a £5000 mini league, and if you join up before the season starts you get a 25% discount.
Not to mention we were the first fantasy football website with their own app which is being improved every season. Some of the main benefits below:
Join thousands of FPL managers and dominate your mini-league with fantasy football hub membership – WhoScored readers can use this link to get 25% off membership (limited time offer).
This article written by 4-time top 1k finisher and Fantasy Football Hub contributor Abdul Rehman
