The Fantasy Premier League had nearly 11 million players last season and is something that football fans love taking part in. Whether it is being in a league with their mates or just doing it for themselves most weekends during the football season consist of watching lots of Premier League football to see if the players they have selected score plenty of points.
With the new season fast approaching, the Premier League have revealed a handful of player prices from each of the twenty clubs that make up the table. If you haven't played previously, as a player myself, I would actively encourage you to do so as it is very good fun. Here is a brief look at the rules as a reminder to those who already play and an insight for those who haven't played FPL before.
Basic rules |
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Your squad must consist of 15 players. They are made up as 2 goalkeepers, 5 defenders, 5 midfielders and 3 forwards |
The total value of your initial squad cannot exceed £100 million |
You can select a maximum of 3 players from a single Premier League team |
You must select a captain and a vice-captain each gameweek. Your captain scores double points and your vice-captain will do the same if the captain does not play |
Once the first gameweek has concluded, you will be allowed 1 free transfer before the next round starts |
If you make more than 1 then you will be deducted 4 points from your total score for each additional transfer you make |
There are several chips that can be used once a season. Bench boost (allowing your substitutes to score points), Free hit (unlimited transfers in one game week and then team goes back to what it was before), Triple Captain (triple points for the captain) and Wildcard (unlimited transfers and team will remain that way after the gameweek ends) |
Anyway, if you wish to know more about the rules you can head to the Premier League website for more information. So, let's take a look at some of the early Aston Villa price reveals for the 2024/25 season.
Ollie Watkins - £9 million
At this price, Watkins is one of the more expensive forwards in the game. However, when you compare how successful he was last season to other forwards then this is potentially a very good price. For reference, Manchester City striker Erling Haaland becomes the most expensive player in the games history at £15 million, whilst Mohamed Salah of Liverpool comes in at £12.5 million. Ollie Watkins was the third highest scoring player in the entire game last season after his 32 goals and assists combined gave him 228 points. Only Cole Palmer and Phil Foden scored more points. For me, Watkins is a banker to have in the team particularly when there is now a good chance he will score more goals by taking over the penalty duties from the departed Douglas Luiz.
Leon Bailey - £6.5 million
Bailey had a superb season last time out, and in fantasy terms he picked himself up 148 points. Compared to other players in his position such as Antony Gordon, Jarred Bowen and Julian Alvarez he is a much cheaper option and scored similar points to those mentioned. The majority of Bailey's goals and assists last season came during the home games at Villa Park so he is certainly a good and cheaper option to have when Villa are playing at home.
John McGinn - £5.5 million
Villa skipper McGinn comes with a much lower price tag than a lot of other midfielders. Due to the nature of the game the top points scorers are often attacking midfielders because of the goals and assists they get. McGinn's numbers were definitely better last season but scored just 119 points. If you are struggling to get the last couple of players into a jam packed team full of highly priced players, McGinn could be a good option across the midfield with it looking likely he will play further forward next season after the signings of Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana. The Villa captain has an eye for goal, but also an eye for a yellow card. Yellow and red cards result in minus points for the team so it could be risk and reward if you select SJM.
Ian Maatsen - £5 million
New boy Maatsen is very likely to be Villa's regular starting left-back next season. With Villa often wishing to attack down the left hand side, an attacking full-back like Maatsen is likely to pick up a number of assists and the odd goal. Last season, Alex Moreno, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Pervis Estupinan were all priced as £5 million. Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson was £6.5 million whilst Trent Alexander-Arnold was the highest priced defender at £8 million. Maatsen is likely to link up with the likes of Morgan Rogers and/or Jacob Ramsey down the left side next season and be encouraged to attack so he could be a very high scoring full-back and one to seriously consider putting in your team.
Emi Martinez - £5 million
Despite being one of the best, if not THE best, goalkeeper in world football Martinez certainly wasn't anywhere near the highest scoring keeper in the FPL game last season. Martinez scored 115 points meaning he finished as the games 7th highest scoring keeper. This is due to Villa conceding a high number of goals last season. Villa were brilliant in attack but in defence they struggled and conceded 61 goals. Compare this to Manchester City (34), Arsenal (29) and Liverpool (41) who made up the top four with Villa, it is a lot of goals to concede. However, Villa's problem was set pieces and the lack of players to dominate and clear the ball from crosses. Next season, Villa will see the return of Tyrone Mings who dominates in the air in his own box and the signing of Amadou Onana, at 6ft 4, who will also do his bit in clearing crosses. Therefore, at his price he will likely be a very good bet. David Raya of Arsenal is priced at £5.5 million whilst Ederson and Alisson are likely to be priced at £6 million.
Some new rules to be aware of....
New rules |
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Players can bank up to five free transfers. Free transfers previously rolled onto the next gameweek for a maxium of 2 free transfers if the player didn't use the option in the previous game week. Now, that will increase to up to five rather than two |
A new chip called ' the Mystery chip' will be introduced in January 2025 |
A shot on target will be worth 2 Bonus Points, a goal line clearance will be worth 3 Bonus Points, a foul won will be worth 1 Bonus Point |
Whether you are a returning player or a newbie, pull your mates together to start a league and start to consider who you want in your team! Have fun!
UTV