Have you ever wondered if there is a secret formula to becoming a top Fantasy Premier League (FPL) manager? Well, in this blog we will do our best to find out. We will look at the 'Top 50' managers from last season, as well as the ‘All Time Top 50’ managers, stats from last season to try an ascertain if there are specific strategies used.
This information has been taken from the Preseason Pack on the website. You can access more information on the 'Top 50' managers, evaluate your own season and use tools to prepare for the upcoming season by clicking HERE.
In this section, we take a look at the most used Fantasy Premier League formations for this season. Like it has been in seasons past, the 3-4-3 formation was the most common with all three user groups in 2022/23. There was also a unanimous second-most popular pick with the Top 50 groups. 20.9% of the ‘Top 50’ favouring the 3-5-2, in addition to 24.4% of the ‘All Time Top 50’. However, the ‘All FPL’ group bucked this trend with 4-4-2 being the second most implemented formation.
The justification for the 3-4-3’s popularity is due to FPL’s scoring system. It rewards goals and assists heavily, with the bonus point system also favouring these actions. It results in managers opting for the minimum number of defenders in their starting XIs. This is because defender’s opportunities to score points are limited, other than clean sheets. Another potential reason for only three defenders being used this season was the underperformance of the premium choices. Previous popular picks, Alexander-Arnold and Robertson, both had underwhelming seasons by their standards and Cancelo was loaned to Bayern Munich in January.
Trent Alexander-Arnold returned 156 points last season, 74 points less than in 2021/22.
In this section, the best Fantasy Premier League (FPL) manager’s teams are put under the microscope, to determine how they spent their budget of £100m across the four positions. The aim is to determine the ideal minimum and maximum to spend in each position.
There is not a big difference between the expenditure on goalkeepers by the ‘Top 50’ and the ‘All Time Top 50’ groups (8.8% and 8.9%), a similar trend to previous seasons. This suggests the best managers are expected to go with budget shot-stoppers. Often premium goalkeepers, such as Ederson (£5.5m), do not amass save points like their budget counterparts. Additionally, they must contend for bonus points with their team’s attacking players, which makes premium goalkeepers poor value for money.
Ederson scored was the 11th highest scoring goalkeeper with 121 points, despite his premium cost.
The premium defenders were not as successful as previous seasons, such as Alexander-Arnold falling well short of the 200-point mark he hit previously. However, more reasonably priced options such as Trippier (£5.0m) emerged. The spend in defence was similar across all the three groups, with the ‘All Time Top 50’ (27.2%) spending the most. The ‘Top 50’ managers spent £2.3m less on defenders compared to last season, which suggests many were without a premium option for much of the season.
As we have seen in previous seasons, the midfield received the maximum funding by each group. Six of the top ten scoring players were midfielders this season (Salah, Ødegaard, Rashford, Saka, Martinelli and De Bruyne). The Fantasy Premier League scoring system benefits midfielders more than forwards, as they are awarded a point for a clean sheet and an extra point for a goal. Additionally, midfielders are often on set-pieces and penalties which provides other ways to gain points.
The 3-4-3 was a popular option amongst managers, one of the three was very likely to be Haaland (£11.5m). This mean managers had £16.0M to allocate to the other two forward slots. The spending on forwards by the ‘Top 50’ managers increased by a staggering £5.5M on last season’s average. This all but confirms a premium forward was ever-present for the season. The strategy appears logical with Haaland and Kane being the two highest points scorers for the season.
Erling Haaland was popular throughout the season, his ownership was 78.4% in Gameweek 38.
This section looks at how the most successful managers used their three Fantasy Premier League (FPL) chips – 1. Bench Boost (BB), 2. Triple Captain (TC) and 3. Free Hit (FH).
Double Gameweeks give players two matches rather than just one, and it is a rational strategy to play the Bench Boost chip to maximise this opportunity. The chip enables the opportunity to field 15 players who will play (potentially) 180 minutes. This equates to 2,700 minutes of potential points, rather than the standard 990 minutes, from 11 players.
78% of the ‘Top 50’ and 92% ‘All Time Top 50’ groups opted to use their Bench Boost chips in Gameweek 29, where 12 teams had two fixtures. The strategy of using the Bench Boost in double Gameweeks is consistent with what has been observed in previous seasons.
In contrast, just 18% of the ‘All FPL’ group opted to use their Bench Boost in Gameweek 19. Their use of the chip is scattered across various Gameweeks.
Considering the above data, it is clear that use of the Bench Boost chip in double Gameweeks is the optimal strategy.
The Free Hit chip allows FPL managers to bring in players for one Gameweek only. Traditionally, it has been used by managers to deal with blank Gameweeks and postponements.
Gameweek 32 saw Brighton, Chelsea, Man City and Man United have no fixtures. To overcome this, 90% of the ‘Top 50’ and 94% of the ‘All Time Top 50’ managers used their Free Hit chips.
16% of the ‘All FPL’ user group used their Free Hit chip in Gameweek 32, a much smaller percentage in comparison. In fact, 32% of the ‘All FPL’ group used their Free Hit chip in Gameweek 12 when Arsenal and Man City did not have a fixture. Arguably, this smaller blank Gameweek may have been better to plan transfers for to deal with.
Based on the above findings, it appears that saving the Free Hit chip for larger blank and double Gameweeks later in the season is a sensible strategy, rather than using it too early.
Gameweek 22 saw the largest percentage of the ‘Top 50’ (66%) use their Triple captain chip on Rashford, who faced Crystal Palace and Leeds in a double Gameweek. The ‘All Time Top 50’ took a different approach to using the chip, with Gameweek 20 (48%) being the most popular time to use the chip. Haaland faced Man United and Spurs in a double Gameweek. Rashford in Gameweek 22 was the second most popular time to use the chip with the ‘All Time Top 50’. In comparison, 22% of the ‘All FPL’ group used their Triple Captain chip in Gameweek 20, making it the most prevalent time. However, by this point in the season 56% of the ‘All FPL’ group had already used the chip.
Given that many managers play FPL casually and will make up a large percentage of the ‘All FPL’ group, it is worth taking note of the ‘All Time Top 50’ and ‘Top 50’ groups chip strategies when considering your own.
This information has been taken from the Preseason Pack on the website. You can access more information on the 'Top 50' managers, including Team Setup, Rotation, Captains, Transfers and Wildcards by clicking HERE.
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