FPL 2023/24: what is Fantasy Premier League? How to play and guide ahead of 2023/24 season

The Fantasy Premier League is now live for the 2023/24 season with fans able to start picking their squads ready for the return of the EFL’s top-flight competition.

Harry Kane is set to cost you £12.5 million in the 2023/24 fantasy league while 2022/23 record-breaking goalscorer Erling Haaland will push you back £14 million. The Norwegian is the most expensive player yet with teammate Kevin de Bruyne not too far behind on £10.5m and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah matching Kane’s asking price of £12.5m.

Fantasy leagues have become exceptionally popular with similar leagues emerging in sports such as Formula 1 in recent years as well. For those, however, who have missed the boat up until now, here is all you need to know about how to get involved with the FPL action ahead of the return of the 2023/24 Premier League season...

How to play FPL

First of all, FPL players must register on the FPL site, set up an account and choose a team name. The game puts you as the manager of Premier League players and you are to pick a squad of 15 players who score points for your team based on their performances in their Premier League matches.

Prices are also given to players based on the number of FPL points they are expected to deliver and there is a budget of £100 million for the 15-man squad

How are points awarded?

Points are given to players based on goals, assists, saves and clean sheets. Players can also earn additional bonus points in Fantasy as a reward for a good performance in a match.

Your team’s points for the ‘gameweek’ are scored by the starting XI, although if a starting player does not feature for their club in that round of matches, the points scored by the first player on your bench will then be counted instead. This same process occurs if two or three players don’t appear.

Extra points can also be earned by selecting a captain from the starting-line and the captain’s points are doubled in that gameweek.

How to pick an FPL squad

A squad should consist of two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and three forwards. A maximum of three players can be chosen from any one Premier League side and there is a deadline of 90 minutes before the kick-off of the first match of the game week to secure your starting line up for the weekend’s play. Managers are also only allowed to enter one team.

Players can also be bought and sold in the transfer market and unlimited transfers can be made at no cost until the first deadline. Once the first deadline of the season has passed, managers only have one free transfer for each Gameweek which enables them to sign a player in exchange for a member of their 15-man squad, so long as the switch is within their budget.

Additional transfers can be made but it will cost four points for each one. However, if managers do not use their free transfer, it will roll over to the next week and you can have two free transfers.

Prices for players do not change until the season starts.

Are there FPL Leagues?

A new squad will automatically be placed into the global leagues, but fans can join and create “mini-leagues” in order to compete with friends and others from across the world. You can compete in up to 25 priveate leagues and there is no limit on the number of teams in a single league.