FAQ: Fundamentals of Fantasy Premier League

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Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is back for the 2022/23 season and there's plenty to get your head around.

With new players, big prices and chips all to be considered, here are the basics of FPL.

How do you play FPL?

In Fantasy Premier League (FPL), managers are required to select a squad of 15 Premier League players, using a budget of £100m. From the squad of 15 players, managers choose 11 players for their team for each round of Premier League fixtures, called a gameweek. 

How do players score points in FPL?

Players’ on-pitch performances score managers fantasy points, including for minutes played, goals, assists and clean sheets. Negative points are incurred for things like bookings, goals conceded and missed penalties and the number of points awarded can fluctuate based on a player's position. 

What is a captain?

Each week in FPL, managers are required to choose a captain and a vice captain. The points total for the captain will be doubled. If a captain plays zero minutes, then the captain’s points multiplier will pass to the vice captain.

What is a wildcard?

Each season fantasy managers are traditionally given two wildcards, one per half of the season. The wildcard allows managers to make unlimited transfers ahead of a new gameweek, to give your entire squad a new look. It is considered the most powerful chip in FPL. Once the wildcard is activated it cannot be canceled and it is only possible to use one chip per gameweek. 

In the 2022/23 season, managers will have three wildcards due to the Qatar World Cup.

What are chips?

Aside from the wildcard, fantasy managers are traditionally given three additional chips in a season: Triple Captain, Bench Boost and Free Hit. For Triple Captain, the captain points are tripled. On Bench Boost, all bench players contribute to the overall gameweek points total. Free Hit works similar to a wildcard with unlimited transfers, but these changes are only live for one gameweek, before your team reverts back to your previous one. 

What is a blank gameweek and double gameweek?

Sometimes the fixture scheduling can change due to clashes with Cup competitions, outbreaks of illness or for bad weather. A blank gameweek is where at least one team doesn’t have a fixture. A double gameweek is where at least one team has more than one fixture. Some gameweeks can be a combination of a blank and a double gameweek.

What are bonus points?

As well as accumulating FPL points for in-game contributions, bonus points are awarded at the end of every fixture. The bonus points act as additional points for the top performing players in the match, with a more in-depth scoring matrix which factors in creative and defensive contributions. The maximum bonus a player can earn from a single game is three.

What is new for 2022/23 season?

Aside from a slick new blue look for the Fantasy Premier League website, there’s one key rule change given the FIFA 2022 World Cup truncates the Premier League season. Fantasy managers will be given unlimited transfers during the World Cup, which essentially acts as an additional wildcard for this season. The first half of the season wildcard must be played prior to Gameweek 16.