The start of the Premier League season is just days with the first matchweek starting on 10th August, so it’s time to start thinking about Fantasy Football.

Managers and coaches of the Premier League have already been busy putting together their squads, making transfers and releasing players, so why aren’t you?

Remember if you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

Whether you are looking to regain your title from last season like Manchester City or just trying to regain some pride amongst your friends, here’s some tips ahead of the start of the FPL season.

The last tip is a simple trick that not many people know about.

Get A Strong Spine

It's important to base your team on a core of four or five players. The spine of the team should be made up of players of high quality, players that start every week and likely in the top six clubs.

Create A Squad

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Remember it's a long old season, don't spend all your money on your starting eleven.

Even the best players get injured or have a dip in form, so you are going to need those last minute substitutions.

Budgetting

Set yourself a budget and stick to it, by sticking to this one below, you can guarantee yourself strength and depth in your initial squad.

Goalkeepers: 9.0 – 10.0, Defenders: 23.5 – 26.0, Midfielders: 36.0 – 39.5, Forwards: 26.0 – 31.0

Transfers

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You get one free transfer each week on FPL, if you don't use it then it carries over to the following week.

However, the most you can get is two, so don't think you can make no changes for eight weeks and then be able to change the majority of your team.

When To Make Transfers

After the gameweek finishes you may be desperate to make changes immediately, because of potential price rises, but don't!

In between gameweeks, players train and players ultimately get injured. Nothing worse than bringing in a player for them to pick up a knock in training or injured on international duty.

Goalkeepers

You need two goalkeepers in your squad and there are two ways you go about spending your budget on them.

Either, buy an expensive one (David De Gea) and pair him with a cheap one who will sit on your bench.

Or, buy two decent keepers at similar price, allowing you to chop and change each week depending on the fixtures.

Defenders

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There are three things you need to consider when selecting a defender, is he in a team that will keep a clean sheet, is he a danger at set pieces or is he a full back that can chip in with assists?

Ideally you want a tick against all three of these, like Cesar Azpilicueta, but two out of three ain't bad.

Avoid Holding/ Defensive Midfielders

Unfortunately for players like N'golo Kante and Nemanja Matic, you don't get points for tackles, positional play or Man of the Match awards.

So avoid getting these kinds of players in your team, their earning potential is low. That's the reason they are so cheap.

Penalty Taker

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As we saw in the World Cup with a record of penalties awarded, referees are keen to stamp out holding in the penalty area, especially on set pieces.

Having a player who is their club's chosen penalty taker is essential. Crystal Palace's Luka Milivojevic scored seven penalties last year and was their highest scoring player.

Forwards

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You have three forwards to select in your squad, you don't want to top heavy your squad by buying Kane, Aguero and Aubameyang.

Grab yourself a premium striker and match him with two regular starters, potentially one that is their club's penalty taker.

Check The Calendar

Don't rely on the match week starting at 3pm every Saturday, with TV and cup competitions getting in the way, there is always alterations in the schedule.

Set up push notifications on your App if you have it.

Regular Or Sub

They may be your favourite player, but if they aren't playing regularly and getting at least 60 minutes of game time, then they won't be good for your points tally.

You don't want to rely on super-subs, you have more chance of getting big points if your starting eleven is in their own starting eleven.

Safe But Not Too Safe

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As the season enters it's later stages, the best managers will cover the highly owned players (everyone had Salah for the last three months of the season).

Ideally you want to get a balance of owning the majority players but having a few players that not many people have in order to get your differential scores.

Plan Weeks Ahead

Don't bring in Lukaku because he's got Bournemouth at home this week, if his following games are Man City away, Chelsea away and Arsenal at home.

You want to make the most out of your transfers, especially if you've lost four points for it. You'll want to at least double your return within a couple of gameweeks.

Unnecessary Points Hits

Don't be too hasty with your transfers if it means taking a points deduction. On average the winner of FPL will take a 20 points or less hit in the whole season.

Do Research On Promoted Clubs

Avoid being surprised by newly promoted clubs, by doing your research. The majority of players from newly promoted clubs are reasonably priced, but after a couple of good performance early on the season, those players prices can skyrocket.

Use Your Chips Carefully

In recent seasons a lot of the top teams have ended up having to play Double Gameweeks because of success in cup competitions. Always worth hanging on to that Triple Captain chip for those weeks!

Use Your Resources

There are tons of the websites out there that do week by week analysis of what players to buy and sell.

Dedicate some of your time each week, to browse the sites and gain even more knowledge on your starting line-up

Wildcard

You get two Wildcard chips a season, one before and one after Christmas.

Use it or lose it, they don't carry over!

Managerial Changes

Although you will want to keep some players from last year as they served you well, be aware of managerial changes that have happened in the closed season.

Most notably, Maurizio Sarri's arrival at Chelsea, players like Marcos Alonso excelled last year because of Antonio Conte's system. If Sarri decides he doesn't want to play wing-backs, then Alonso's freedom to go forward will disintegrate.

Social Media

Keep an eye on your player's social media accounts, their actions during the week may affect their performances on the pitch.

For example, Sergio Aguero's car crash last year left him injured and unable to play for the next few weeks. Watching social media would help you stay ahead of your opposing managers.

Don't Share Your Tactics

Be wary when sharing information with your opposing managers, if you tell everyone about something you've seen on social media, then you lose that advantage when everyone does the same!

Create Team Now

By creating your team now, you automatically have an advantage over your mates before a ball has even been kicked!

This is a big if, but at the end of the season, if you finish level on points with your rival, the winner is decided by how many transfers you made.

If that also manages to be identical, then the winner is decided by what manager created his team first!