How to play Premier League Fantasy Football
With the new Premier League season exactly two weeks away, armchair pundits will be keenly waiting to prove their football knowledge at the opening of the fantasy football season.
It has become part of many football fans’ pre-season rituals, creating their teams and setting up leagues against their friends to prove once and for all who is the Antonio Conte of the fantasy world and who has all the gear but no idea.
The Premier League runs its own official fantasy football game and is easier to sign up to than ever before, with it one of the most popular formats of the game out there. For all our fantasy football tips check them out here.
How to sign up
Signing up to the Premier League’s fantasy football is an extremely straightforward procedure, with the only required details being your name, email address, gender, date of birth and country of residence.
You will then be asked your favourite club, which will consequently enter you into a league amongst other players from across the world who have selected the same team.
How to choose your team
Once the formalities have been completed, you can then begin the process of selecting your team. Players are each given a £100m budget, which is used to select 15 players including 2 goalkeepers, 5 defenders, 5 midfielders and 3 strikers. You may only select three players from the same Premier League club. The budgeting factor ensures players will need to be coy with their cash and search for bargains on the market to help accommodate some of the highest-scoring players, such as last season’s Premier League Golden Boot winner Harry Kane.
Each week, players must select 11 of their 15 squad players, taking into account the fixture ahead, the team they are playing against and the likelihood of their player playing in the match and scoring points. Formations can be changed as and when the manager sees fit, with the different variations available to players being 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-5-1, 3-5-2, 3-4-3, 5-3-2 and 5-4-1.
Players must also pick a captain and vice-captain before each game week, with the captain’s score being doubled that particular week. Should the captain play 0 minutes that week, the vice-captain’s points will be doubled. If a player in your starting 11 plays 0 minutes, he will be replaced by the highest priority bench player, unless it would result in there being less than three defenders scoring points.
Chips
The Premier League’s fantasy game also offers players ‘Chips’, whereby a number of different options can be selected to boost your team’s point total. Only one Chip can be used per week. The Chips are:
- All Out Attack – Allows you to play a 2-5-3 formation
- Bench Boost – Points scored by bench players are added to the overall total that gameweek
- Triple Captain – Your captain’s total number of points is tripled instead of doubled
- Wildcard – Transfers can be made freely that gameweek
Each Chip may only be used once in the season other than the Wildcard, which can be used twice, once during the first half of the season and once during the second half of the season.
How to join a league
Upon joining, players will be automatically entered into the overall league, as well as leagues featuring managers who share your same favourite club and country of residence. Players also have the option to create and join leagues with their friends, although any potential cash prizes are to be negotiated privately.
The overall winner of the game does, however, win numerous prizes, for example, last season’s champion took home VIP hospitality tickets to two Premier League 2017/18 matches, a week’s worth of experiences in the UK and a TAG Heuer watch, amongst others.
Other Fantasy Football Games
There are some other great fantasy football games to play, Skybet run some fantastic free fantasy games you can play the Sky Super 6 game or the Six A Side Fantasy Football game for free and we provide great tips for both. As well as that we have guides on how to play The Sun Fantasy Football game as well.