The free-to-play Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game has become a staple part of fan engagement with England’s top-flight football competition.
While FPL is a multi-faceted game, it is easy to break it down to a simple level. You pick a squad of 15 players and earn points based on their real-life performances.
You can compete in the overall league, or join private mini-leagues where you will be competing against your family, friends or work colleagues.
If you finish top of the FPL 2025/26 points standings at the end of the season, you could win one of several lucrative prizes. Here is a quick guide to get you started on FPL.
How to register
You must register on fantasy.premierleague.com to play FPL. From there, you need to create an account which involves a three-stage registration process.
Once you have completed these steps and confirmed your email address, you are ready to start picking your 15-man FPL squad.
Picking an FPL squad
FPL managers are given an initial budget of £100 million to spend on a squad of 15 players. All of the players in the game have been allocated a price. Your squad must consist of:
- 2 goalkeepers
- 5 defenders
- 5 midfielders
- 3 forwards
A maximum of three players can be chosen from any one Premier League club. As with real-life football, you need to create a well-balanced squad across all positions.
It is important to consider a team’s upcoming fixtures when choosing your squad. Check out the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR) to gain expert insights into the schedule.
Selecting your team
As with real-life football, you must select a starting XI for each FPL Gameweek. You can choose different formations such as 3-5-2 or 4-4-2.
Any formation can be chosen provided your line-up includes one goalkeeper, at least three defenders, at least two midfielders, and at least one forward.
You must also choose a captain and a vice-captain. Your captain scores double points. The armband passes to the vice-captain if your captain does not play. As such, it’s worth selecting the players predicted by Spreadex Sports to perform the best each week for these two positions.
How to make transfers
FPL allows you to buy and sell players in the transfer market. Unlimited transfers can be made at no cost until the season starts.
Managers are given one free transfer for each Gameweek when the season begins. You can sign a new player, but you must also sell one and stay within your £100m budget.
Free transfers can be rolled over each week, up to a maximum of five. If you want to make additional transfers in a single week, each one will cost you four points.
Scoring points
There are numerous ways to accrue points in FPL in including your players scoring a goal, keeping a clean sheet and making other defensive contributions.
You can also lose points for yellow cards, red cards, and own goals. Click here to view the full list of ways you can score or lose points in FPL.
How to use your chips
FPL managers have the opportunity to boost their points total by using one of their chips. There are a total of eight chips to use and only one can be played in a single Gameweek. The chips are as follows:
- Bench Boost: The points scored by your substitutes are included in your total.
- Free Hit: Make unlimited free transfers for a single Gameweek. Your squad reverts to how it was before those unlimited moves were made for the next week.
- Triple Captain: Your captain points are tripled instead of doubled.
- Wildcard: All transfers, including those already made, are free of charge.
All four chips can each be used twice a season, once in either half of the campaign.
Leagues and cups
FPL managers are automatically allocated to global leagues when they enter their squad. You can also join and create mini-leagues to compete with family, friends, colleagues and others.
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