The new season of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is almost upon us, and we’ve got the key information in our preview to help managers before they start forming their squads.
Pre-season is well underway for the majority of Premier League sides, which means just one thing – we’re approaching the start of a brand new Fantasy Premier League (FPL) season.
Last year, over 11.5 million people took part in the game – the most in its 23-year history – and experts expect that figure to be beaten once again in 2025/26.
Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah finished the season with the most points, breaking the record for the most points accumulated by a player in a single campaign with a total of 344.
That beat his previous record in 2017/18 of 303 points.
2024/25 also saw the introduction of a new chip – the Assistant Manager chip. Despite only being introuduced last year, the Assistant Manager chip won’t come into play in 2025/26.
As a new season of FPL action nears, we at SportsCasting have formed a seasonal preview, which includes the latest information to help managers start forming their squads.
When Does FPL 2025/26 Launch?
The full 2025/26 Premier League fixtures list has been revealed.
Unveiled by league chiefs on Tuesday, 18 June, the proposed schedule allows FPL players to start planning for their squads ahead of Gameweek 1.
Reigning champions Liverpool kickstart the campaign with a home clash against Bournemouth on Friday, 15 August, with Aston Villa entertaining Newcastle United and Manchester United hosting Arsenal in other key Premier League opening weekend fixtures.
But when will managers be able to select players for their FPL teams?
An official launch date hasn’t yet been confirmed, but based on last year’s launch date, we can expect the game to go live at some point in mid-July.
In previous years, player prices have been teased by the official Fantasy Premier League account on social media in the days leading up to the game’s official release.
Here are the previous FPL launch dates in years gone by:
| Season | Launch Date | Days Before Gameweek 1 |
| 2024/25 | 17 July, 2024 | 30 |
| 2023/24 | 5 July, 2023 | 37 |
| 2022/23 | 5 July, 2022 | 31 |
| 2021/22 | 23 June, 2021 | 51 |
| 2020/21 | 15 August, 2020 | 28 |
| 2019/20 | 27 June, 2019 | 43 |
| 2018/19 | 5 July, 2018 | 36 |
| 2017/18 | 12 July, 2017 | 30 |
| 2016/17 | 19 July, 2016 | 25 |
Note: The 2020/21 season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
What Are The Chips In FPL?
Chips are tools that allow managers to temporarily boost certain aspects of their FPL teams.
Over the years, there have been four main chips in FPL. As previously mentioned, though, a new ‘Mystery Chip’ was added in 2024/25, with the Assistant Manager chip being introduced.
As previously mentioned, there will be no Assistant Manger chip this season.
The four chips are as follows: the Wildcard, the Bench Boost, the Triple Captain and the Free Hit.
Differently to previous years, managers will have TWO sets of chips to use throughout the campaign to use in each half of the season, meaning there are eight chips in total.
The first set of chips must be played before the Gameweek 19 deadline, and cannot be carried over into the second half of 2025/26.
What Is Wildcard in FPL?
The Wildcard chip allows managers to make unlimited free transfers within their team’s budget without incurring any points hits. It cannot be cancelled once it has been played.
What Is Bench Boost in FPL?
The Bench Boost chip allows managers to score points from the four players on their bench, alongside their selected starting 11, for the selected gameweek.
What Is Triple Captain in FPL?
The Triple Captain chip is rather self-explanatory. Instead of your captain accumulating double points, when the chip is activated, your captain will earn triple points during said gameweek.
A big tip here is to look ahead to the upcoming fixtures to see when teams have more than one game in certain gameweeks.
Plus, it can also pay to find out the 2025/26 FPL penalty takers and set piece experts to bag extra points this way.
What Is Free Hit in FPL?
The Free Hit chip is similar to the Wildcard chip in the sense that you are able to make unlimited free transfers during a specific gameweek without incurring any points hits.
Differently from the Wildcard though, the transfers will be reversed the following gameweek.
Are There Any New Rules In FPL?
Ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, FPL have introduced a new ‘defensive contributions’ rule.
This allows players to earn points for making defensive actions in-game.
Players can accumulate defensive contribution points as follows.
Defensive actions for defensive contribution points:
– Blocks
– Tackles
– Interceptions
– Clearances
– Recoveries (midfielders and forwards only)
10 defensive contributions = 2 points for defenders
12 defensive contributions = 2 points for midfielders and forwards
Defensive contribution points are capped at 2 points per match for all players.
There have also been a number of position changes in FPL for the 2025/26 season.
Among those affected are Manchester United’s Matheus Cunha, West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen, Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly, Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush and Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo.
Additionally, the assist rule has changed. The definition of a Fantasy Premier League assist ‘has been simplified to better recognise players for their contributions to goals, and to reduce the degree of subjectivity involved’.
Extra transfers will also be awarded in Gameweek 16 to help managers change their squads during the Africa Cup of Nations, while tweaks have been made to the Bonus Points System.
Is Mohamed Salah The Most Expensive Player In FPL?
Mohamed Salah started last season at £12.5m, £2.5m less than Erling Haaland, but after a record-breaking campaign of his own, in which he became the highest-scoring player in a single FPL season throughout history, the Egyptian has a starting price of £14.5m this term.
That officially makes him the most expensive player in FPL at the start of this season.
Will he be among the top Fantasy Football points scorers once again in 2025/26?
Priced as the second favourite to finish the campaign as the division’s top goalscorer by the best betting sites in the UK, the 33-year-old could be in line to do just that.
Haaland, meanwhile, starts the season as the second most expensive player at £14.0m.
Other premium assets include Alexander Isak, Cole Palmer and Bryan Mbeumo. Several experts have predicted that the trio will all have starting price points of £10.0m+.
Isak has since been confirmed to have a starting price of £10.5m, with Florian Wirtz (£8.5m), Rayan Ait-Nouri (£6.0m) and Jordan Pickford’s (£5.5m) prices also unveiled.
