Fantasy Premier League tips: Best players to pick in your team, formation, strategies to win and how to play FPL 2025/26

The 2025/26 Premier League season is set to kick off, and that also means the return of Fantasy Premier League. 

Since its inception in 2002, the league has quickly become the most popular fantasy domestic league in the world, with over 11 million players involved last season — a new record. 

It's likely to only grow further this year, and here The Sporting News brings you everything you need to know about Fantasy Premier League. 

We've got expert tips on how to select the best team, which formation to use, strategies to give you an edge. And of course, how to keep engaged with your team so you don't just forget about it by Christmas!

Check out our full guide below...

MORE: Premier League Fixtures | Premier League Scores | Premier League News

How to play Fantasy Premier League

To play Fantasy Premier League for the first time, you must register on the FPL site.

It is a very easy three-stage process, with the usual "About Me" section followed by "Your Favourites" where you select your preferred team, and then "Email preferences". 

From here, you can join either public or private leagues, while you will be automatically entered into the overall Fantasy League, as well as leagues of players from your country and supporters of your favourite teams. 

However, first you must pick your squad. 

How to pick your Fantasy Premier League squad

Every player who joins FPL is given an initial budget of £100m to work with, and every manager must choose 15 players for their team. 

A squad is made up of 11 starters and four substitutes, and it must consist of two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and three forwards. 

A maximum of three players can be chosen from any one Premier League club.

When selecting your squad, you can set the filters to total points from last season, the most popular players picked, or simply their price. 

Each week, you will select a captain, whose points return will be doubled. 

You can change your squad whenever you want, but there is only one free transfer to swap players in and out per week. Any more than that will incur a four point deduction. 

The deadline for picking your squad, team and captain for each gameweek is 90 minutes before the first game's kick off.

That's the basics to get you started, but what about who to select in your squad? 

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Who are the best FPL players to pick for 2025/26?

This brings us neatly onto the subject of who are the best players in Fantasy Premier League. Which, of course, is the million dollar question all FPL managers are constantly trying to answer!

Both price and total points from last season are unsurprisingly the best indicators of where to start, but there are plenty of players who are worth far more than their starting price value. 

For example, only Mohamed Salah (344) got more points than Bryan Mbeuno (236) last season, and the now-Manchester United player starts £6.5m cheaper than the Liverpool icon for 2025/26, so look out for potential bargains. 

As for who are the best players, like real-life football, goals win games in fantasy, and assists go a long way too. Salah, Erling Haaland, Cole Palmer, Alexander Isak and Bukayo Saka are among the best-performing players over the last few years, and likely will be again this season. 

That also applies to defenders in Fantasy Premier League. If you have a player who can add goals and/or assists on top of clean sheets, they will prove crucial over the course of the season.

Marc Cucurella, Josko Gvardiol and Nikola Milenkovic all scored five times last season, while Antonee Robinson led the league with 10 assists. 

It is hard to judge new signings, but the likes of Florian Wirtz, Viktor Gyokeres, Joao Pedro, Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha are sure to be popular among managers early on, too. 

MORE: Premier League top scorer, who will win the 2025/26 Premier League Golden Boot race?

How to choose an FPL formation

Fantasy Premier League is not like real-life football when it comes to formation, with the sole aim being to get as many point scorers in your starting 11 as possible. 

That will often mean playing 3-4-3 to utilise your three strikers, or 3-5-2 if you have a lot of attacking midfielders. 

Ultimately the formation you choose from week to week will need to be flexible based on who is available, likely injuries and also the opposition each of your players is playing against.

Staying on top of the Premier League fixtures, and adjusting accordingly is the surest way to succeed.

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FPL strategies and tips

As a result of your likely formation(s), there is no need to spend a lot of budget on four or five defenders.

Your best bet is to fill your backline with defenders who, as we said, either score goals or provide assists. It's why having three full-backs can be so valuable in Fantasy. 

Having cheap back up defenders is another good tip, and that goes for the bench in general.

There is little value in having a lot of your budget sitting on the bench, but do try and get some starters for when you want to use your "Bench Boost" chip. More on that later...

When it comes to goalkeepers, try and find value in a starter who is £5m or cheaper to save money for further forward. It is probably worth it to have a very cheap starter on the bench in case of a last-minute injury. 

As for midfielders and forwards, the obvious tip is to get as many goalscorers and assist providers as possible.

Defensive midfielders like Rodri, Martin Zubimendi and Carlos Baleba might be priceless in real-life, but they are of less use in Fantasy Premier League, even with the addition of defensive contribution points. 

There are plenty of midfielders who really are forwards, most notably Salah, Mbeumo and Palmer, who were the top points scorers last season. Midfielders get one more point than forwards for goals, so it is worth picking up these types of players. 

All three also took penalties last season, which is an easy bonus in terms of getting points. Take a look at who takes penalties for teams, as well as set pieces, before deciding on your squad. 

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What are FPL 'chips' and how to use them?

The Bench Boost is just one of the 'extra' ways of racking up points that is available to managers throughout the season.

Knowing when to play these advantages will be crucial for gaining you additional points in key moments and taking advantage of big performances.

When it comes to fixtures, it is wise to check the first 4-6 games each side has before making your first squad selection, and keep an eye on upcoming games throughout the season. 

In total there are four chips available to players with Bench Boost supplemented by Free Hit, Wildcard and Triple Captain. 

Here's what they all do:

• Free Hit — Allows players to make unlimited free transfers for a single Gameweek. At the next deadline, your squad is returned to how it was before those unlimited moves were made. The Free Hit can't be played in Gameweek 1.

• Triple captain — Means exactly what you think, with your captain's points being tripled instead of doubled. It is wise to use this when your star man either has an easier fixture or two games in the same gameweek. 

• Wildcard — Allows players to change their team as much as they want free of charge when the chip is played. 

• Bench Boost — The points gained by your players on your bench are included in your weekly total.

This season you will have two of each chip  — one to use in the first half of the season, before the end of Gameweek 19, and the other to use in the second half of the season from Gameweek 20 onwards.

MORE: How to bet on the Premier League 2025/26: Predictions, tips and latest odds for winners, relegation, top four and more 

Premier League schedule 2025/26 and FPL gameweeks

The Fantasy Premier League schedule more or less mirrors the real-life schedule, but some weeks will be double gameweeks, so keep an eye on that throughout the season. 

Here is the current schedule for the Premier League season, with TV changes not yet in place for October onwards.