Nothing beats the feeling of winning, especially when it’s at the expense of workmates, family or friends. Many of us enjoy playing fantasy football, with the Daily Telegraph version one of the most popular around.
If you want to gain an edge over your opponents next season, it might be worth reading the below, which will hopefully stop you making careless mistakes and ensure you’re competing at the right end of the table come May!
1) Keep a keen eye on the fixture list
It’s worth noting when teams have ‘easy’ matches – this could be an opportune to time to draft in a striker or even a couple of defenders. There are also opportunities throughout the season when Team A will have three matches within the same time period that Team B has one.
2) Avoid making kneejerk transfers
It’s a marathon, not a sprint! The guys at the top of the overall league at the end of the season weren’t there at the start. A bad weekend shouldn’t have you necessarily making wholesale changes. Especially if there were some unusual results. Similarly, don’t draft a player in, simply because they scored a deflected goal at home to Hull City!
3) Pay special attention to ‘Big Four’ players
Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are likely to score more goals, have more assists and keep more clean sheets than the other sixteen teams. Therefore, although you’re unlikely to afford a team made solely of Big Four players, you should have a handful at least.
4) Pick first-team players
Although this sounds obvious, many of us will stick with players, despite them only warming the subs bench most of the time. If you’re picking a very cheap player, at least make sure they are starting most matches and getting the 2 points for an appearance.
5) Select a balanced team
Yes, we all like to pick hotshot strikers, but the better player will ensure they spend relatively the same in all areas of their team. It’s just as important to have a strong defence and midfield than have the league’s top-scoring players. Don’t leave yourself short at the back!
6) Watch out for Premier League new players
Luka Modric might have looked good during Euro 2008, but he might need time to adjust to the pace of the Premier League. The same might for Chelsea’s Deco. It’s usually worth holding back and assessing how these players are performing before diving in.
The Daily Telegraph Fantasy Football is starting again and Betfair as their sponsors are offering many free promos.
The promo that you can get direct with the Telegraph is a free £10 bet plus two free teams. i.e. you deposit a tenner and you'll get a £10 free bet from Betfair.
We recommend that you do not take up this offer and instead use the Bettingpro exclusive Betfair offer where you can get up to £25 free from Betfair. In our offer all you need to do is to deposit £25 and you'll get £25 deposited free into your Betfair account. This extra £15 free above the Telegraph Fantasy Football Betfair offer is, in our opinion, a better deal than getting £10 and 2 free teams.
Click here to see the full details of the Bettingpro Betfair Offer