Craig Reumert, a long-standing member of our Elite XI: Team Reveal feature, is a well-known figure in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) community.
His impressive FPL track record includes finishing 80th in the world in 2018, nearly claiming the ultimate prize. Beyond this, Craig has consistently demonstrated his expertise with 6 Top 10k finishes and 4 Top 5k finishes, making him one of the most successful FPL managers.
If you're looking for FPL tips and strategies from a seasoned pro, Craig's insights are invaluable.
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With an aggressive style of play, Craig is more than happy to go against the grain when he spots an opportunity. His emphasis on generating team value means he is happy to take points hits early on to jump on the best opportunities. An avid planner, Craig breaks the season into digestible chunks and uses Fantasy Football Fix AI to help him make the most of each block.
The below draft is Craig’s ‘holiday variation’ of his initial draft from a couple of weeks ago. Usually his initial draft is set around a balanced priced structure, but this season he has been drawn to the extremities.
“The attraction of a handful of the heavy hitters, and the potential of a decent number of very nicely priced potential bargains (AKA, of course, potential disasters) has got my attention. With the strong fixture line-up for Liverpool and Manchester City, Salah and Haaland were the first two names in my squad, closely followed by Isak.”
As covered in our Elite XI: Team Reveal article with James Cooper, Craig has opted for Nottingham Forest’s brand-new signing Carlos Miguel (£4.5m) between the sticks. The Opta Stats Sandbox tool reveals that Forest were ranked the fourth best team for xGC (Expected Goals Conceded) with 53.81 last season.
Craig’s defence is amongst the most expensive of the Elite XI group. A back three of Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m), Joško Gvardiol (£6.0m), and Daniel Muñoz (£5.0m) takes up 18% of the total budget.
According to the Predicted Points & Stats tool, the Liverpool and England international is the defender who will score the most points (26.9) in the first six Gameweeks, and by a significant margin. A combination of historic performances and ease of fixtures scores him highly with the Algorithm. Manchester City’s Gvardiol is ranked fifth with 21.9.
“Gvardiol has been a near-lock in my mind, given his full pre-season, near nailed status, and numbers to absolutely die for. Alongside him sits a leap of faith in TAA: with so relatively little known about Arne Slot’s Liverpool, there’s a little more hope than certainty to his pick, but the fixtures over the first 5 (especially in Gameweek 4 and 5) are far too tempting to ignore, and I feel he is worth a punt for the season start.”
It is fair to say that midfield is where the reduced budget has been most keenly felt. The inclusion of Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) aside, the most expensive midfielder is Eberechi Eze (£7.0m).
In Craig’s 3-4-3 setup, the other two midfield slots have been filled by Fulham’s new signing Emile Smith-Rowe (£5.5m) and Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers (£5.0m) two FPL assets who are relatively unproven and represent a bit of a punt.
“After having played around with this structure, I don’t feel like it’s too weak (though that opinion probably is not universally shared.) Eze is great value, though a move to Manchester City may weaken his appeal, at least for the season start. Hudson Odoi, Minteh, Gibbs-White, Amad, Szoboszlai, and - my current tipples of choice - Emile Smith Rowe and Morgan Rogers all offer great value in midfield, with great fixtures, rotations and prices to choose between.”
Craig’s attack consists of two of the most owned forwards in the game, Alexander Isak (£8.5m) and Erling Haaland (£15.0m), who are selected by 55.3% and 41.4% of FPL managers, respectively.
In third spot is Brighton’s João Pedro (£5.5m) who is the fourth most owned forward in the game at 17.4%. Last season he bagged 12 goal involvements in just 19 starts (see the Fix Comparison Matrix below), but FPL managers seem more assured of his game time under the new Brighton regime.
“Up top, Joao Pedro, Armstrong, and Fulham’s Muniz are both great value and fantastic options for the season start. Some like Wood, though he’s not for me. They’re not going to return every week, but I’m comfortable that the players their low-price frees funds for, outweigh the offset to other more expensive assets, at least for the season start.”
A good start may see FPL managers hold on to their chips, and even stack up free transfers as per the changes to the rules for the 2024/25 season. This is not particularly Craig’s style, and while he has not yet fully considered the full possibilities of the new changes, he doesn’t see himself holding back this season.
“I’ll certainty consider stockpiling transfers, but there’s always an opportunity cost to sitting on your backside, counting your pennies, and that isn’t really my style. As for the reduced number of double Gameweeks in the coming season, I am not averse to bucking the trend and using a chip or two early doors if the situation arises. If only there were a fit striker with a decent preseason behind him, facing the league’s weakest team at home in Gameweek 2. That wouldn’t be a bad Triple Captain shout, would it?”
This, of course, is merely an early draft and will be subject to change. Our Elite XI managers will be tweaking and refining their squads as new information presents itself.
If you want to keep up-to-date with Craig’s (or any other Elite XI managers’) moves, then head over to the Elite XI: Team Reveal area and be sure to turn on notifications and alerts to find out when our managers have updated their squads.
EDIT: Since Solanke's transfer to Spurs was confirmed, Craig has made five changes to his lineup to accommodate the forward. You can check out his latest draft on the Elite XI: Team Reveal by clicking here.
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