Beginner Guide – FPL 101
8 Simple & Effective Tips for the 25/26 FPL Season
Here’s a beginner-friendly guide to help you build a resilient team & win your FPL mini-league:
1. Do Not Waste Transfers
Transfers are a precious commodity in FPL — each extra transfer costs you 4 points. With up to 5 free transfers now possible, patience has never been more important. Saving transfers allows you to create “mini-wildcards” every few gameweeks.
Before making a transfer, ask yourself:
- Why am I making this transfer? (FOMO, good fixtures, strong stats, captaincy?)
- Does this transfer help my team now, or can my bench cover me?
- Will the player I bring in outscore the one I’m selling by at least 4 points over the next few GWs?
This simple self-check improves your decision-making and makes you truly value every transfer.
2. Information is King
The goal of FPL is to make the best decision possible with the information you have.
- Monitor press conferences
- Check training photos
- Wait for midweek fixtures to finish
- Use FPL data models and projections
Personally, I wait until the last 30 minutes before the deadline to do transfers — it gives me maximum information. To succeed, managers must fully invest in gathering all the data they can each GW.
3. Plan to Avoid Being Reactive
Many managers react emotionally:
- Bringing in a player just because he scored a brace last GW
- Selling a strong pick because he blanked two games in a row
Instead:
- Use planning tools for fixture swings & captaincy
- Stay patient and trust your research
- Plan 2–3 weeks ahead, especially with 5 rolled transfers now possible
The best managers are proactive, not reactive.
4. Judge the Process, Not the Result
FPL is part skill, part luck. Sometimes a smart decision won’t pay off immediately.
Example: You bring in a player with excellent stats & fixtures, but he blanks. That’s not a bad decision — just bad variance.
The key:
- Stick to a good process, even if results lag
- Only change if your decision-making method (not the outcome) was poor
Trust your process.
5. Balance Eye Test & Statistics
Top FPL managers use a hybrid approach:
- Eye Test → Watching matches/highlights helps spot form, positioning, and confidence
- Statistics → Underlying data reveals undervalued assets, predicts returns, and adds objectivity
The sweet spot is combining what you see with what the data confirms.
6. Captaincy is Key
Your captaincy pick can make or break a gameweek.
Guidelines:
- Prioritize safe, consistent point scorers
- Punt only when premiums have tough fixtures
- Plan 3–4 GWs ahead to align your transfers with future captaincy options
Smart captaincy planning = big rank improvements.
7. Know When to Be Aggressive vs. Defensive
FPL is a long season. The best managers know when to attack and when to protect rank.
- Be aggressive: When using chips, during DGWs, or when top captaincy options have poor fixtures
- Be defensive: When others are on chips and you’re not, or when you don’t own the top captain — take “damage limitation” moves
Pick your battles wisely.
8. Go for Layups
Often the “boring” move is the right move.
- Don’t force differentials every GW
- Consistently take the obvious value picks
- Save your risks for when the upside is clear
Example: In 23/24 I finished 160k overall. My big mistake was chasing too many differentials instead of taking the obvious picks. The result? I kept falling further behind. In 24/25, I used the effective "layup strategy" and finished 22k overall.
Keep hitting those layups, and your rank will improve steadily.
Final Word
FPL is about patience, planning, and discipline. Stick to these 8 principles, and you’ll give yourself the best chance to rise up the ranks in 25/26.
