It might seem hard to believe but the vast majority of people do not play Fantasy Premier League . The maths add up – there’s seven million or so FPL managers and seven billion people in the world – but that is no reason to stick with the crowd. If you have not played before why not finally join the party this season? First off, what is it and how does it work, you ask? The most basic premise is that you get to manage a team of English Premier League players with the intention of getting as many points as you can. Each manager is given 100 million to spend on 15 players – two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and three forwards. Are you ready for the 2020/21 #FPL season? Pick your squad https://t.co/X1MyxzVeiB pic.twitter.com/rqi9y7AEA8 — Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) August 26, 2020 Every player is given a price based on their performances from last season. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are joined by Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the most expensive players in the game at 12.0 million. That may change if Lionel Messi joins Manchester City. You cannot pick more than three players from each club so your dream of copying Jurgen Klopp’s champions is a non-stater – even if you could somehow afford them. ️ "Lionel Messi was poor last season" Messi would almost certainly have earned over 300 points on #FPL last season... Kevin De Bruyne earned the most, with 251... What if Lionel Messi was in Fantasy Premier League — WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) August 27, 2020 The budget means you cannot just buy all of last season’s top scorers and you’ll have to put some effort in to find your ideal balance of players. Fear not, you get unlimited transfers up until deadline day – 90 minutes before kick-off in the first game of the season on September 12. Points are scored for your players actually playing plus goals, assists and clean sheets. These are weighted. Defenders and goalkeepers score more than a midfielder for a goal, who in turn scores more than a striker. Points are lost by conceding goals, red cards, yellow cards, or missing penalties. There are bonus points for the best three players in every game, too. Deciding between Salah and Mane in your #FPL team... https://t.co/T6mdejP3qH — Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) August 30, 2020 If you don’t want to pick a team then you can let the game auto-select your 15 players for you. With your team picked what next? Well, aside from the name – which is where people really seem to spend their time or at least search the internet for one – the next step is to pick the starting line-up from your squad of 15 – plus a captain and vice-captain. These can be changed every week, with the captain scoring double points that is a useful way to raise your total, similarly formation can be changed each week. You can play in any formation, providing one goalkeeper, at least three defenders and at least one forward are selected at all times. My new ̷y̷e̷a̷r̷'̷s̷ season's resolution is: _______________ #FPL pic.twitter.com/isWKB6RoA6 — Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) August 30, 2020 This can be tweaked through the season as injuries, suspension and form change things. Users can make one free transfer per week, though you can use a “Wildcard” on two occasions during the season, where you can make as many transfers as you want. If you do not play a Wildcard, any extra transfers over that free one will cost you four points each. There are several other chips, as the FPL calls them, to help you score more points. Aside from the Wildcard there is a Triple Captain option, meaning the captain gets triple rather than the usual double points. Lining up an early wildcard? #FPL So is @GeoffreyDance ... Here's his GW1 XI pic.twitter.com/TvrpN21CHO — Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) August 30, 2020 Bench Boost lets you also get the points from your four substitutes for one gameweek while Free Hit allows players to make as many transfers as they want for just one game week before their previous team returns. That is Fantasy Premier League in its most simplistic terms. It gets as complicated as you want it to be after that. You can read the rest of our guides to playing and hints and tips to give you the best chance to win, starting with some reminders below: Kane to thrive in the early fixtures @ChuckBoothSport picks his starting XI for #FPL GW1 pic.twitter.com/p6MzPMOq7V — Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) August 28, 2020 Week by week The deadline for changes is now 90 minutes before kick-off in the first English Premier League match of that gameweek. Select a captain. They score double points every week. Make sure to select a vice-captain too, as they step in if your skipper does not play. You can even earn triple points – but only once a season – by selecting the Triple Captain option. You can use Bench Boost once a season, where all the substitutes will be included in your points for that gameweek. The Free Hit also allows you to rip things up (also once per season) and change as many players as you want for one week only. Consider using this if a team has two matches in a gameweek. The @SouthamptonFC triple-up is Holly Shand from @FFCommunity_ reveals her #FPL GW1 picks... pic.twitter.com/2Ld6BExpG9 — Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) August 27, 2020 Scoring Points mean prizes in the Fantasy Premier League so consider how you earn them before picking your team: Scoring a goal (forward): four points Scoring a goal (midfielder): five points Scoring a goal (goalkeeper/defender): six points Assist: three points Clean sheet (goalkeeper/defender): four points Clean sheet (midfielder): one point Playing up to 60 minutes: one point Playing more than 60 minutes: two points Goalkeeper saves: one point per three saves Penalty save: five points # - Making space in your team for these assets? pic.twitter.com/GMk1R5DKyA — Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) August 18, 2020 Yellow card: minus-one point Red card: minus-three points Own goal: minus-two points Goals conceded (goalkeeper/defenders): minus-one point for every two goals let in Missing a penalty: minus-two points