Premier League Fantasy Football Changes

With just over 3 weeks to go until the Premier League season kicks off, the time has come for millions of people across the country to start thinking about their Fantasy Football team for the season ahead. But there have been a few changes to the structure of the competition, and here we walk you through them to give you the upper hand over your mates!

Chips

The old favourite the Wild Card, which allows you to make as many substitutions as you want for the coming gameweek for free of charge, is classed as a ‘chip’.

Alongside this old stalwart in the Fantasy Premier League setup, there are 3 new chips for you to tactically use at your disposal. All the new chips can be used once per season, while the Wild Card can still be used twice in the season. Also, only one chip can be used per gameweek.

One other thing to note about the Wild Card chip is that one of them must be used in the first half of the season (Before 28^th December), with the other being saved for the second half of the season.

All Out Attack

The All Out Attack chips allows you to play a 2-5-3 formation in the next gameweek, to take advantage of any top strikers coming up against defensively poor sides.

Bench Boost

Bench Boost means that the points scored by the players on your bench are included in your total for the next gameweek. Perfect for those times when you just can’t decide on your starting 11.

Triple Captain

Diego Costa has scored 5 in his last 2 matches and is playing against the worst defence in the league? The Triple Captain chip will triple your captain’s points in the next gameweek rather than double them.

Gameweek Deadlines

The gameweek deadlines for the coming season have changed slightly. In previous years, the deadline was always at 11:30am on the Saturday morning. However, the new season sees the deadlines change throughout the year depending on when the first match of the gameweek kicks off.

For example, the Gameweek 1 deadline is 11:45am on Saturday 8^th August, but the Gameweek 2 deadline is 6:45pm on Friday 14^th August due to Manchester United playing Aston Villa on the Friday night.

Ultimate Fantasy Premier League

Perhaps the most exciting offering from this season’s Fantasy Premier League is the addition of Ultimate FPL.

This is a paid service, where players pay a small £5 fee to enter the competition. In return, there is a £25,000 payday for the player with the most points at the end of the season. In addition to this, there is also a £1,000 monthly prize on the table.

With Ultimate Fantasy Premier League, you pick an initial 25-man squad using a budget of £160 million. At the beginning of each gameweek you submit an 18-man squad for the gameweek, then choosing your starting 11 and bench from those players.

You can also make changes during the gameweek. For example, if your prized captain Eden Hazard is playing on Friday evening, but gets stretchered off within 10 minutes, you can substitute him for one of your other players who is yet to play. This includes changing your captain.

Unlike the free version of the Fantasy Premier League, there are no free transfers that you can make each gameweek. Instead, there are 2 transfer windows per season where players can make changes to their squad within their budget. If a number of your players become injured or suspended during the season, you can make emergency loan deals to replace them, but these moves incur point deductions.

Conclusion

The new changes to the Fantasy Premier League structure aim to keep the old favourites of the game interested in the season long battle for points. Those who have performed particularly well in recent years will be extremely excited about the introduction of the Ultimate FPL, where they can win cash prizes to reward their footballing knowledge.