With FPL Challenge live for the new season, FPL Family’s Sam discusses the recent changes and reveals how she is approaching Gameweeks 1-4.

FPL Challenge is back and it’s changed for the better!

Last March saw the launch of FPL Challenge. A game which focused on scoring as many points as possible each week, with a brand new team of players for every round. There was so much to love about it, but also some annoyances.

Why have a subs bench at all when I can change out players who aren’t playing right up until their match kicks off?

Why bother with the vice-captain when I can move the armband if for any reason my captain isn’t named on the team sheet?

Why can’t I see cumulative totals for my mini-leagues? Don’t get me wrong I love to see if I have won each week, but I would also like to know how I am doing monthly or even over the whole season.

Last week the Premier League announced changes to FPL Challenge and my goodness they are so good! No subs, no vice-captains, no bench, rank badges and mini-leagues which score across the season as well as for each week. This is going to be a game changer for the popularity of FPL Challenge.

We’ve previously run through the changes to the game. Since then it’s gone live and we have had first sight of the opening four Gameweeks worth of challenges.

Gameweeks 1-4

All four of these challenges will be connected and managers will be able to win prizes if they win this combination of Gameweek challenges, as well as for winning a stand-alone Gameweek. These Gameweeks will all have a slightly different challenge but they are all connected by being 5-a-side teams.

Gameweek 1

Gameweek 1 is a week of unlimited budget. If you want to go for Erling Haaland (£15.0m), Mohamed Salah (£12.5m), Cole Palmer (£10.5m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m) and Alisson (£5.5m) and spend £50.5m you can! My plan isn’t to be quite so frivolous, but I’m not that far away. Obviously, with just over two weeks to go until the start of the new season I might change my mind but my current Gameweek 1 FPL Challenge team looks like this.

Team Reveal

The huge benefit of FPL Challenge of course is the lack of a firm deadline. If any of these players isn’t named in the starting XI for their Premier League sides for the opening day fixtures then I can swap them out. Salah, Alexander Isak (£8.5m) and Son Heung-Min (£10.0m) all play newly promoted teams on the opening weekend. Meanwhile both Ben White (£6.5m) and Jordan Pickford (£5.0m) have home fixtures which look promising for clean sheets.

Salah verses a newly promoted side feels on paper like a must-have. However, of his 18 goals last season 13 of them came at home. He also failed to return a single attacking return against any of the newly promoted clubs in the 2023/24 campaign. But the Egyptian has had the whole summer off and a pre-season under new manager Arne Slot. I’ll be watching Salah carefully in case there is a better option, but I think he’ll stay – he might just lose the captaincy.

Meanwhile, Son had a good record against newly promoted teams last season. The midfielder returned four goals and an assist against Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton. He was also just as good, if not better on the road. Son scored nine of his 17 goals last season away from home, as well as registering half of his 10 assists. Spurs fans like myself will also fondly remember Son’s 13-minute hat trick coming off the bench against the Foxes to secure the three points for Spurs the last time Leicester were in the division. In fact, Leicester are one of his preferred teams. The Spurs captain has played 16 matches against the Foxes in the Premier League and FA Cup registering 10 goals and five assists in those matches.

Isak scored in every game he started against newly promoted teams last season. Indeed he picked up five goals in the five matches he played against them. His home form last season was exceptional with 14 of his 21 goals coming at St James’ Park. From Gameweek 26 last season he started every match picking up 11 goals and four assists in that time.

At the back White is the most expensive of the Arsenal defenders but also the one with the most attacking threat. He was top for assists, big chances created, chances created and crosses of the Arsenal defenders. He also tied with William Saliba (£6.0m) for the most clean sheets and he was second of the Arsenal defenders for bonus points.

With a clean sheet looking promising at home to Wolves, White feels like the Arsenal defender with the potential for the biggest upside.

Between the sticks currently is Pickford. I won’t be going for him in the main game as I don’t want to spend the extra £0.5m but in FPL Challenge he feels like a good option. Pickford was the highest-scoring goalkeeper last season with 153 FPL points to his name. This was 18 points more than the next-best shot-stopper. Pickford also picked up 29 save points and his 13 clean sheets was only bettered by David Raya (£5.5m) at Arsenal.

Watchlist

Of course, I am omitting Haaland and Palmer here who play each other on the opening day. With Haaland bracing in this fixture last season I am not sure that I won’t have a last-minute change of heart and bring him in. However, with FPL Challenge it very much feels like we should play the fixtures – especially in these early Gameweeks where form isn’t solidified.

Gameweek 2

When people talk to me about FPL Chips I always harp back to the good old days of the All Out Attack Chip. I loved it! When it was part of the main FPL game it enabled you to play all eight of your attacking assets and then just two defenders and a goalkeeper.

The All Out Attack Chip was removed from the main game when we all started to want to go big at the back, but I miss it still. It was so exciting the promise of all those eight attacking assets playing in the same week.

When I saw that this was the challenge for Gameweek 2 my eyes lit up. Haaland at home to Ipswich with the likes of Phil Foden (£9.5m), Brennan Johnson (£6.5m), Salah, Darwin Nunez (£7.5m) and/or Palmer around him is super exciting. It feels like rolling back the clock and I can’t wait!

Gameweek 3

Step up Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton, it’s your time to shine. By the time the promoted punt week rolls around in Gameweek 3, we will have two Gameweeks of knowledge about the promoted sides.

Both Ipswich and Leicester will play at home in Gameweek 3, whereas Southampton will be on their travels back in London for the first time this season.

• Brentford v Southampton – 31st August 3:00pm BST
• Ipswich v Fulham – 31st August 3:00pm BST
• Leicester v Aston Villa – 31st August 3:00pm BST

All three of these matches kick off at the same time so all eyes will be on the team sheets at 2pm! Might this be the week for a ‘Vardy party’ if we see him starting for Leicester?

Gameweek 4

In the main FPL game, it often feels hard to go big at the back. We all want to own the likes of Salah, Haaland and Palmer which can mean that there isn’t the budget for a huge number of premium defenders. Especially because there are so many really attractive budget-friendly £4.5m defenders this year.

But Gameweek 4 brings back big at the back. This week you will only be able to pick defensive players AND two of them have to be goalkeepers!

Be warned though Gameweek 4 also contains the north London derby. These matches rarely see a clean sheet. If you are thinking about Arsenal and Spurs defenders get those with the biggest attacking threat, such as Pedro Porro (£5.5m) or White. Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) will likely be popular with a home match against Brentford and I would expect to see a number of Alexander-Arnold picks ahead of a match against Nottingham Forest at Anfield.

FPL Challenge it’s a game-changer

Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I felt so excited for a new Fantasy season. The changes to the main game are excellent and alongside the new pricing, they look set to make this a brilliant campaign. Now with Challenge alongside it feels like my weeks just filled with even more Fantasy thinking… especially with UCL Fantasy and Fantasy EFL too. Best tell my family I’ll see them in September for the first international break!

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