Tips for Newbies

1. Buy for long term, not for one game

Yes, it's important to look for the fixtures, but NOT ONLY for the NEXT GAME. It's simply not worth it to buy one player just because you think that the player is capable of landing big points for you next game, when he'll have insane fixtures (eg: vs the top four) for several games after that. This means that he'll most probably miss out all the points after this game, when you can't even guarantee that he'll definitely bring you double figures this game. So, always find for players with several good forthcoming fixtures. This will give you a stable flow of points and minimize your number of transfers needed (note that each additional transfer after the first costs you 4 points).

2. Be objective

"Oh, I am a fans of xxx, so I shall include him on my team for all 38 gameweeks!" "xxx is sucks, I'll never buy him for the whole season!" Seriously, get rid of this type of attitude if you wanted to score high, if not winning the game. Select players that you think are good in form and not your subjective judgements about them.

3. Do not pool players only from several teams only

Are you trying to buy players from 5-6 clubs only, ie 3 (maximum) players from each respectively? My advice: DON'T. Firstly, unless that club is having a big win, it's almost impossible that all three of the players you picked will land you big points. Secondly, what if the players from the two clubs you have chosen are encountering each other? Three of them from the losing club wll most probably gives you nothing other than the 2 points earned for the minutes played, or the worse, 6 of them earn low scores together due to draw. Spread your selections, spread the risk.

4. Give priority to set piece takers

It's simple. A goal from a corner gives the corner kick taker an assist, a direct FK gives him a goal or assist, and a successful PK will land you points for goal. So always find someone who is responsible for set pieces and is accurate at it.

4. Money talks

One of the interesting features from fantasy premier league is that you can actually earn team value by buying and selling players, thus making it possible to bring in a lot of big names in your team. To earn more values, simply buy the player that scores double figure in that gameweek asap, i.e. right after the match ends. Then leave it for one week and you'll see that his value will most probably rise for 0.2 already, which means you can earn 0.1 by selling him. The reason behind this is that a player's price is rise due to the influence of his net transfers that gameweek by all the managers, so you actually earn more by taking one step faster than the rest.

5. Stay alert

Sometimes the latest news such as injuries and transfers can bring a big effect of your gameweek's result. For instance, your player might get injured just several hours before the game, so your speed in getting the news can help you a lot in restructuring your team to maximise your points.

6. Understand the chain reaction

An injury or transfer of a particular player doesn't mean that only he himself get affected in terms of scoring points. It usually is a start of a chain reaction. For example, if Gerrard is transferred from Liverpool to Chelsea, the whole Liverpool team is expected to perform poorer without his presence (less goals, less assists) meanwhile Chelsea will be on the opposite. Another example is the departure of C. Ronaldo. While Man Utd may perform poorer, Rooney is expected to get more points as now the team should be revolved around him.

7. Do your homework

Well, statistics is a very useful tool to help you to build your team. Season reviews, match history, goals and assists figures... with these knowledges you will have a higher level of advantages.

8. Greed is no good

While increasing team values may give you a better source of points, it is advisable not to get too over of it. Do not make a numerous number of transfers just to get higher team value. By the time you actually managed to get all those big stars, your team's scores may already far far away from the leaders. Be rational.

P/S: In depth statistics for each team will release soon. Stay tuned. =)

Price is Rocketing...

For those players who yet to enter their new teams, you might think that: "Yay, Ronaldo is gone, I'll have more money to spend for my squad now!" Well, in this case, SORRY, YOU ARE TOTALLY WRONG.

I was about the same thought before as well before I really entered my team. But when I actually started to select my squad, headaches came across. The most expensive keeper trio: Cech, Van der Sar and Reina, is now 6.5 each. Schwarzer's price has boosted to 5.5 as well, though the price for him is still reasonable.

As for defenders, while Vidic still crowned for the Premier League's most expensive defender (8.0), Chelsea has three players (Terry, Bosingwa and Zhirkov) that reached the 7.5 price mark together with Liverpool's newcomer Glen Johnson and Everton's almighty Lescott. One thing that striked me is the price hike of Aurelio who is now on par with his vice captain Jamie Carragher.

Now for the midfielders. The Blues and Reds ace - Lampard and Gerrard, both shared the throne for the fantasy league's most expensive players - 12.5 each, after Ronaldo's departure. It is expected isn't it? Meanwhile, Arshavin surpasses his captain's price (11 for Arshavin, 10.5 for Fabregas) to become the most expensive player of Arsenal. Whereas Ireland has became the player with the highest price rise - from 5 at the beginning of last season to 9.0 now!!! This will become a headache for managers as Ireland was once the most profitable player in both scoring points and earning team values before. Not to be forgotten the price rise of United's new wing Valencia as well.

City's young ace Stephen Ireland

Meanwhile, the striking force had faced a little bit of depreciation. Torres, although still the most expensive striker now, has dropped his price to 11.5 due to the lack of playing time last season. Whereas Rooney is now the runner up (11.0) and is predicted to be a good bargain due to the fact that Ferguson is predicted to rotate the team around him now. Whereas Adebayor's price has dropped as well due to his under par performance last season.

With such insane price tags now, it's really quite hard to build a team with all the stars. Managers should start to keep your eyes on those cheap and decent players, especially from those newcomers (Birmingham, Burnley and Wolves).

Best of luck for next season.

Fantasy Premier League 09/10 Pre-Season Started!

Once again, the world's most favorite fantasy football game new season is going to be started. Players can now start to build their teams again!

For those who are new, read about fantasy premier league here.

So what's new with this season?

Lets see what that has been written in their official site:

1. Private Head to Head Leagues

In addition to a public head to head league, you'll be able to set-up head to head leagues with your mates. Every Gameweek there's a real match to be played and temporary bragging rights to be earned!

Optionally you can end your season with a knock-out cup between the top teams, nothing will be decided until Gameweek 38!

2. Emergency Captain

Never again will rotation policies or last minute injuries leave your team leader less! In the event of your captain not playing in a Gameweek a new captain, either the player with the highest form or price value at the start of the gameweek, will be selected based on your emergency captain strategy.

Why no vice captain? With the emergency rule you guarantee a captain, with a vice captain you still run the risk of both players not playing.

3. Use your free transfer next Gameweek

Don't need to make a free transfer or forget one week? If you don't use your free transfer in a Gameweek then it will carry over to the next Gameweek.

The unused transfer will only be carried over for one Gameweek though, the wildcard will still be the only way to change your team completely at no cost once a season.
Coming in August ...

4. Improved mobile site

Our mobile site will be overhauled so it functions well and looks good on all modern handsets. They'll be no excuses for missing out on that last minute transfer or not checking your points at full-time on Saturday!

5. Numerous interface enhancements

Some of the other things we're working on:

* Easier than ever to set-up your starting 11, captain and substitute priority for the upcoming Gameweek.
* Improved fixtures and results page where assist and bonus point information will be easily accessible.
* Enhanced notes page which will be accessible from everywhere.

With these newly added features, the new season of Fantasy Premier League is gonna be more exciting! What are you waiting for? Register at fantasy.premierleague.com!