In our previous article ‘10 Tips For FPL Beginners’, we outlined some top tips (and common traps to avoid) for managers who are new to Fantasy Premier League (FPL). Following these simple but effective tips should tip the odds in your favour when competing in your mini-leagues.
Could this season be the season you get a top 10k finish? Our team reveal managers have achieved over 80 top 10k finishes! Click here to see the Elite Team Reveals and follow their every move.
But how do we take that one-step further? What advice can we give to achieve an incredible finish? Well, for this we needed to consult FPL managers who have proven experience of finishing in the upper echelons of the game.
Our Elite XI managers have a combined 82 Top x 10k finishes, with many of those within the Top 5k and Top 1k thresholds.
So, we asked the very best managers on the planet a simple question: how do you get a Top 10k finish?
Every single Elite XI manager said this, so it is worth putting it front and centre.
Many FPL managers plan really far ahead, but then stick to their plan doggedly, failing to adapt to new information as the nuances of the season unfold. Others merely look at the next couple of Gameweeks, seeking instant gratification and treating chip strategy as a bridge to be crossed later on.
The key is to plan ahead but be prepared and ready to tweak the plan on the fly. As new information presents itself, so the plan will need to be refined. Often the backbone of the plan will remain the same, but with peripheral details amended. Other times injury news, fixture postponements, a sudden increase/decrease in player form, will demand a total rebuild of the plan, as the effects send significant ripples throughout your squad.
Make your plans following the fixtures (and form of course!) for the short/medium term, but don't get obsessed with the perfect long-term transfer plan. Something will disrupt it and you'll need to react. - Walter Randazzo (7 x Top 10k finishes)
Plan ahead, but remain flexible. Make it adaptable so you have options if you have to deviate from the plan. - Tim Walpole (8 x Top 10k finishes)
You may be the sort of manager who prefers to watch the games and use the eye test to line up your next acquisition. At the opposite end of the spectrum, you may rely more heavily on statistics to build a broader picture. Some managers are expert at gathering information from others, while some rely on gut feel and instinct.
Whatever your playing style, it is important to build a solid and consistent process of evaluating FPL assets. Stats can be very useful as they allow us a window into the performances of FPL assets who we did not see play.
The Opta Stats Sandbox has a plethora of information and, for the advanced user, the Custom Stats Builder allows you to take this even further. But the methods of interpreting all this data are numerous. How can you be sure that you won’t make the stats fit around your own biases, or favour players who you want just because they scored a brace last week?
This is the fundamental key for any successful FPL player. You absolutely must be able to accurately identify players who are likely to perform well in FPL moving forward. Please note the key there is ‘moving forward’. It does absolutely no good to latch on to assets who have hit a hot/lucky streak that has little chance of continuing. You need to be able to evaluate and identify quality for the future. How do you do that? Well, that’s the secret sauce. I personally am hugely driven by underlying data and rely upon metrics such as xG along with other data indicating attack engagement, quality chance involvement, etc. I also rely upon some predictive models (such as the Player Points Projections) and pair them with upcoming fixture lists, potential rotation issues, and injury news. In the end, this is more art than science, but should be something you continue to improve, both over the course of a season, and your FPL career. - Corey Baker (4 x Top 5k finishes)
Fixture planning is a fundamental aspect of achieving a top finish in FPL. But this takes discipline and dedication, which can be frustrating for many managers, as long-term planning requires constant tweaking and adaptation. Fortunately, tools such as the Fixture Planner can do a lot of the legwork for you.
When creating your Gameweek 1 squad, or planning your chip strategy, the best FPL managers focus on larger chunks of the schedule to see where the fixture swings occur and, later in the season, where the blank and double Gameweeks are going to affect the schedule.
Fixtures are huge in FPL. While players can be seen as “fixture proof,” even the best players perform better against poorer oppositions. Accordingly, you absolutely need to plan ahead, as fixture swings are virtually impossible to overcome otherwise. This is especially true when desired players are more than a single transfer away, meaning you need to plan your squad multiple weeks out. I typically plan 6 weeks out, although, late in the season this often gets extended due to the challenges of managing double Gameweeks, blank Gameweeks and your chips. At minimum, I think you should plan at least 4 weeks out. - Corey Baker (4 x Top 5k finishes)
Save your chips until the end-of-season double Gameweek mayhem. Normally, the best time to use your chips is late in the season when you can gain a lot from navigating the schedule with chips. Don't waste those in random single Gameweeks. - Lari Ahti (4 x Top 10k finishes)
To help you plan for the first 16 Gameweeks of the season, check out our FPL Fixture Swings & Wildcard Strategy article.
One thing all the Elite XI managers have in common is that they do not allow complacency to breed in their FPL ability. Fantasy Premier League is changing each season. The number of competitors is growing, and access to refined information is more readily available than ever.
In order to remain at the top of their game, our Elite XI managers are in a constant state of continuous improvement, a concept which is utilised in fields of innovation and by many of the top companies in the world.
A big part of this is having the humility and honesty to look inwards, identify your weak spots, or areas in which personal biases are affecting your judgement (we all have them!). It is also about separating decisions from outcomes. Finishes in the Top 10k require a level of impartial introspection, which many do not possess.
Sometimes people make a bad decision which has a positive outcome. But how much of that was luck? A good FPL manager will make a mental note not to make the bad decision again, even if they got away with it that time. Conversely, when a good decision has a bad outcome, you must have the mental fortitude to back yourself to make the right decision again, even if it didn’t work last time.
Don't let a bad Gameweek affect your decisions for the next Gameweek [if your decision making was correct]. It's OK to let it go, you're also more likely to make better decisions if you do! - Tim Walpole (8 x Top 10k finishes)
Setting objectives is an important aspect of playing FPL as it can guide or alter your playing style relative to the goal being pursued. For example, in Gameweek 37, you may find yourself outside of the Top 10k, with a fairly obvious captaincy option, or transfer target, who is highly owned.
If your goal is a Top 50k finish, you may decide to play it safe and go with the obvious option. That is likely to protect you from rank damage even if things go wrong, but is unlikely to propel you further ahead. But if you want that Top 10k finish, then you are going to have to take a risk.
I was successful with this at the end of last season, captaining Bruno versus Haaland. Projections were close, and I liked Bruno’s potential. His effective ownership (EO) for my level was less than 100% meaning I got over 100% of his points as a bonus. It helped me rescue some semblance of an adequate season last year. However, you MUST be fairly confident the player is in a good spot to meet the popular captain pick. A swing and a miss on a hugely popular captain can be devastating, much more so in overall rank than in a single mini-league. So, if you are taking this risk, you must be fairly confident your captain has a chance of outscoring the popular choice. - Corey Baker (4 x Top 5k finishes)
When multiple transfer or captaincy options are available tools such as Opta Player Heatmaps or the Fix Comparison Matrix can help you make meaningful side-by-side comparisons of the best options.
You can check out the Elite XI: Team Reveal tool by clicking HERE.
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