In this piece, I (James) will cover my final thoughts for the start of the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) season. I will set out my strategy, reveal my watchlist and show you my two drafts I am picking between ahead of the first deadline on Friday.

Let’s get into it.

Chips

I think the place to start is with chips, because they’re gonna dictate everything about the initial setup. Without chips, I’d build differently. But with them, the plan is pretty clear. 

I’m going to bench boost in game week one or two. Just to get rid of it. I don’t even mind if it’s just six points. I don’t think it matters that much. So if I’m fine with a small return, then I might as well go bold with it. Meaning a chase for a defensive triple-up or double up. And, because I don’t think it matters much and I don’t want to spend big, that basically means choosing between Ipswich at home to Sunderland in game week one or Coventry at home to Hull in game week two. I’m leaning one way, but I’m not locked in yet. 

I’m also very likely to triple captain Haaland in game week three against Coventry. It’s early, he’s fit, no European rotation yet, and historically, he starts fast. I’d rather bank that than wait months for the fixture against Hull that he might not play.

Wildcard? I think that’s an early play too. Somewhere between game weeks four and seven. There’s just too many unknowns right now. I’m not fully confident on a lot of things this season given how much change there has been in the league. I also don’t know who the cheap defcon defenders are, or whether defcon is going to matter as much this year. I don’t know which six million forwards will get decent minutes. And, I don’t know whether the more expensive mids (like Saka or Palmer) are worth it. A few weeks of real football answers a lot of those questions. We learn so much early on and I want to use that information to beat my mates.

I also like the idea of using the free hit early too, possibly game week four, because there are mini fixture swings across the opening six weeks. And if I don’t wildcard then, the free hit lets me maximize one of them – Chelsea, Palace and Brighton play the promoted teams. Coincidentally, it also lets me own JP in the best fixture after I shit on him so much.

Strategy: Be Aggressive

Last season I used all my chips in the first seven weeks and it worked well. So same mindset now. The lack of information that we have right now means that the AI models and everyone else’s judgement is at its weakest. I want to try to exploit that.

Target the promoted sides, especially Hull. Those are the only fixtures I’m genuinely confident about. Beyond that, I think the middle of the league is tightly packed like last year. It’s not always clear who’s good or bad yet. So I’m going hard when it comes to targeting those promoted teams, but otherwise, I’d rather trust good players than overreact to fixtures. Fixtures mattered less last season, and I suspect that’ll continue.

James’ Watchlist

I am not fully set on my 15 but I know I am picking from this lot.

Goalkeepers

• Donnarumma – 5.5
• Kinsky – 4.5
• Verbruggen – 4.5
• Rushworth – 4.5

In goal, the decision is whether to go cheap or to get the cheapest, most nailed route into the City defence.

Defenders

• Virgil – 6.5
• Tarkowski – 6.0
• One of Mosquera, White, Calafiori – 5.5
• Maguire – 5.0
• Shaw – 4.5
• Diop – 4.0
• O’Shea – 4.0
• Thomas – 4.0
• van Ewijk – 4.0

In defence, I LOVE the defcon output of Tarko over multiple seasons and he has been in almost all my tinkers. 

Then it is a question of whether to take a bit of a risk on whether any of these Arsenal guys will be nailed in a few weeks time or just pay up for the safety of Virgil’s starts in a worse defence. Alongside them I will almost certainly have Shaw but I have tinkered with Maguire in the Virgil or Tarko slot – I can just see the upside with big slabhead getting a goal and defcons in the opening two. 

And then it’s the promoted shitters.

Midfielders

• B. Fernandes – 12.0
• Mbeumo – 8.0
• Wirtz – 7.5
• Szoboszlai – 7.0
• Dango – 6.5
• Anderson – 6.5
• Schade – 6.0
• Ampadu – 5.5
• Slater – 4.5

In midfield, I flirted with no Bruno and having Isak instead at the start of the season but Joe turned me around on that one (ironic when you see his team…). 

Dango has been in almost all my tinkers because I think people are really overlooking him. Szobo has likewise been in all my tinkers because of his routes to points.

I’ve toyed with Wirtz or Mbeumo in the 4th slot but I am leaning Mbeumo because of the opening two and then just moving off him in 3 if I want to.

In the 5th slot, I am pretty settled on Anderson after the compelling case made by Joe. I have toyed with Schade there because I think he is also underrated. 

Ampadu I like as a defcon guy but I am not sure that I feel confident to start him every week and don’t like paying 5.5 for him to sit on my bench. 

Slater is just the only nailed 4.5 I think I know.

Forwards

• Haaland – 15.5
• Joao Pedro – 7.5
• Calvert-Lewin – 6.0
• McBurnie – 5.5
• Walle Egeli – 4.5

Up top, Haaland hasn’t left a single tinker and neither has Calvert-Lewin… but for different reasons. Haaland is a perma cap option and always starts the season hot. DCL is nailed for me because he’s the only 6.0 I trust to play 90s consistently.

JP and I have a complicated history but I don’t actually rate him that much and think he is only good against bad teams. But, alongside being contrarian and arrogant, I am also a coward that fears his 60% ownership so he makes this list.

McBurnie would be my hedge if I bench boosted in 2 in case Hull scored my money would be on him.

And Walle Egeli is my bench boost 1 striker because he’s dirt cheap and I don’t care if he doesn’t play…

James’ Draft Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying About 4.5 Forwards

I pretty famously (lol) came out heavily in favour of bench boost 2 and triple Coventry defence.

The logic is still sound. If you, like me, don’t care about doing okay on bench boost (10-12 points) then you should risk it all for big bench boost (20 points) or a shit one (6 points) by getting a triple Coventry defence – something like Rushworth, Thomas and van Ewijk. It looks like this:

I’ve got some great picks with some great fixtures in there but 5.5 McBurnie on my bench just doesn’t sit well with me. 

Enter Walle. I don’t know who he is but he’s had a good pre-season and he looks to be starting gameweek 1 and look at what I can do with that extra 1.0:

I’ve upgraded Maguire to Tarko. Got Mbeumo over Wirtz for the first two. And I have the basic bitch goalkeeper rotation of Kinsky and Verbruggen. And all it cost me was McBurnie to Walle. And my dignity. And reputation. Fortunately for me, not many people read this website but you can change that, tell your friends! (never miss an opportunity for a shameless plug).

So, that’s my current draft and basically my dilemma. Whichever one I go for will probably be wrong. And, I have cursed myself by tinkering in and out every player in the game so when anyone scores in gameweek 1 I can say: ‘I had him in one of my drafts.’

Such is life. Such is FPL.