At work myself and a colleague Bharat Bhise are completely obsessed with football and in particular our fantasy football team. Over the last couple of years Bharat and I have encouraged some more colleagues to join us and we currently have a lot of action going on each week when it comes to the league, and who is doing better than others. To be completely honest Bharat has thematic touch when it comes to this and he wins most years. Last year was my turn however, and I even managed to rank in the top 5,000 overall, quite a feat. If you are in a league with your friends, here are some tips on picking the perfect team. 

Seeking Positions

Certain players don’t always play where the FPL thinks that they do and you can use this to leverage more points from your team. A perfect example would be the midfielder John Lundstram who plays for Sheffield United. He is listed on FPL as a defender but actually plays as an attacking midfielder. You may be wondering why this is important, well it is because defenders get more points for goals than midfielders do, and Lundstram has been bringing in hoards of points this season. 

Watch Fixtures

When you are tweaking and changing your team it is essential that you pay close attention to the figures which are coming up. If you have a choice between John McGuinn and Todd Cantwell for example, and Norwich play their next 3 games against Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City whereas Cantwell has Burnley, Bournemouth and Spurs, you are probably going to but much better off choosing the latter. Always keep an eye on the next 3 fixtures. 

Reacting 

Being pro-active rather than re-active is always going to be a better strategy here, because the large number of players are slotting players into their teams who did well last week, rather than spotting who will deliver this week. There are times when you have to slot players in of course, teams can’t be doing well right now without Jamie Vardy for example. However you have to weigh up the pros and cons, for example I put Sergio Aguero in last week after many swapped him out because he wasn’t playing, normally when he’s playing well everyone has him, so it was a great opportunity to get some points, as I knew that he’d be starting over Jesus again. 

Triple Captain, Bench Boost and Free Hit

It is vital that you only use these bonuses on weeks where players have more than one game. This usually happens towards the back end of the season when fixtures pile up. If you have a team of players who will be playing just once, consider using your free hit to bring in a full team of players who have double duties, including the subs. The same goes for triple captain, if Sterling is playing against Watford and Newcastle in the same week, give him that armband!