EPL EPL SC 2025/26

[SELFCONFESDAFLNERD]

Dewsbury-Hall in for Adingra. Truffert out for Udogie (if fit)

 

[vsberlina]

Pretty happy with this. Midfield may change & if it does, i may swap a few defenders but i think my forwardline is set. Im considering Petrovic as a cheap keeper but Chelsea's early fixtures are so good that i made myself find the cash for Sanchez.

240k in the bank

View attachment 2386758

That's a fair team. Can't fault it. A few iffy players, but there's still pre-season games so hopefully more will be made clear.

 

[SELFCONFESDAFLNERD]

That's a fair team. Can't fault it. A few iffy players, but there's still pre-season games so hopefully more will be made clear.

Cheers. Not entirely sold on a few picks, mainly cheap mids, but 'structurally' i like it. Happy to go with a punt on Dorgu/De Cuyper types as attacking defenders. Havent really stuck my neck out with any picks but i figure id rather not do that with my starting team anyway. Rather generic guns n rookies should give a good chance of starting with the pack and ill go from there.

What i will say is funny, is something that ive talked about before but i will mention again, is that as i learn more about the EPL i feel like im now fighting more of a battle between my knowledge of the game and players and what the pure stats say. I wouldnt say increasing my knowledge has made the game any easier for me.

Anyway, i dont think ill ever have the knowledge of the game that you do, so i guess ill thank you for the info from past seasons and thank you in advance for this season! Id say if anyone deserves to go B2B its you

...But enough pumping up your tyres for now!

 

[vsberlina]

Dewsbury-Hall in for Adingra. Truffert out for Udogie (if fit)

I think Adingra is one of the surest starters. Probably drop one of Arias or JWP.

 

[Blind Turn]

Yeah I’ll give it a crack.

View attachment 2377914

Great team name. Respect.

 

[Blind Turn]

A bit top heavy perhaps. I like the idea of 2 keepers from the same team for loophole purposes. Is Martinez definitely staying at Villa? I assume Bizot is the only real number 2 option for them. Really wanted VVD for his composed ever-presence but instead went cheaper in defence to get the big scorers up front. Frimpong could realistically be second choice behind Bradley at Liverpool but seeing as Bradley is carrying something mysterious at the moment there’s every chance that Frimpong gets good early exposure. No other pure RB choices at Liverpool either. Jones, Szobo, Endo, and Gomez (if fit), would all be break-glass options only you’d think.

 

[vsberlina]

View attachment 2387503
A bit top heavy perhaps. I like the idea of 2 keepers from the same team for loophole purposes. Is Martinez definitely staying at Villa? I assume Bizot is the only real number 2 option for them. Really wanted VVD for his composed ever-presence but instead went cheaper in defence to get the big scorers up front. Frimpong could realistically be second choice behind Bradley at Liverpool but seeing as Bradley is carrying something mysterious at the moment there’s every chance that Frimpong gets good early exposure. No other pure RB choices at Liverpool either. Jones, Szobo, Endo, and Gomez (if fit), would all be break-glass options only you’d think.

Martinez and Gauci played the last friendly, so maybe it's not Bizot.
But as the Villa game is at 9.30pm AEST, you can see the lineups and choose the right one. It's a rolling start.
Gauci is cheaper anyway, so you can downgrade to him and use the spare cash to upgrade elsewhere.

Pool play first (though at 5am AEST), so you can confirm if Frimpong is starting.

Gyokeres might not be fully fit in time for the 1st game.

Dunno about Kamada and ESR being the best options at that price.

MLS plays DEF. Listed as a MID. You're being robbed 4 pts for a CS.

Dunno if Yoro is nailed, or whether Walker is going to spike to make you money.

Udogie and VdV are injury prone. As long as you know this when deciding to pick them.

 

[Blind Turn]

Martinez and Gauci played the last friendly, so maybe it's not Bizot.
But as the Villa game is at 9.30pm AEST, you can see the lineups and choose the right one. It's a rolling start.
Gauci is cheaper anyway, so you can downgrade to him and use the spare cash to upgrade elsewhere.

Pool play first (though at 5am AEST), so you can confirm if Frimpong is starting.

Gyokeres might not be fully fit in time for the 1st game.

Dunno about Kamada and ESR being the best options at that price.

MLS plays DEF. Listed as a MID. You're being robbed 4 pts for a CS.

Dunno if Yoro is nailed, or whether Walker is going to spike to make you money.

Udogie and VdV are injury prone. As long as you know this when deciding to pick them.

Not sure that Gauci is an ongoing option even if picked in early games. Kind of hoping for a guaranteed point scoring replacement if Martinez is omitted while I’m getting beauty sleep.

Good point re: MLS. Nice price though.

Kamada is a bit of a place holder. Plays most games despite low scoring. Need to better assess who might be a cheap rookie-type who will gain value instead. Very likely to be a different player in there.

The fragility of the Spurs boys has been noted but I might take a chance with them anyway.

I am torn between Wirtz and Gyökeres. With Arsenal’s quality it won’t take long for Gyokeres to start hitting them in. Wirtz is probably a safer, more solid option but the high ceiling of the striker appeals.

 

[vsberlina]

Not sure that Gauci is an ongoing option even if picked in early games. Kind of hoping for a guaranteed point scoring replacement if Martinez is omitted while I’m getting beauty sleep.

Good point re: MLS. Nice price though.

Kamada is a bit of a place holder. Plays most games despite low scoring. Need to better assess who might be a cheap rookie-type who will gain value instead. Very likely to be a different player in there.

The fragility of the Spurs boys has been noted but I might take a chance with them anyway.

I am torn between Wirtz and Gyökeres. With Arsenal’s quality it won’t take long for Gyokeres to start hitting them in. Wirtz is probably a safer, more solid option but the high ceiling of the striker appeals.

Martinez is suspended for the 1st game. One of Bizot or Gauci will be starting. Whoever it is, will be Villa#2.
As the game is early, you can select the right one. After that, he'll auto-sub, so you won't have to be awake from GW2 onwards.

KDH, ELF, Harrison. Quite a few at that price point to replace Kamada.

Gyokeres will have a slow start. ARS's early run is tough. Flip to him when the time is right, but I wouldn't start with him.

 

[langersm]

I use DFS Australia quite a bit for my AFL Fantasy team. Is there a useful stats site for EPL, focusing on SC? It is a new concept so there may not be anything out there yet.

 

[vsberlina]

I use DFS Australia quite a bit for my AFL Fantasy team. Is there a useful stats site for EPL, focusing on SC? It is a new concept so there may not be anything out there yet.

I've always used https://www.whoscored.com/regions/252/tournaments/2/seasons/10743/england-premier-league
Their stats are identical to the ones used by Supercoach (Sportsdeck).

There's also https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/ that I find extremely useful. A little hard to navigate, but unique analysis.

Others have claimed they use the following sites, but I'm not familiar with them.

Premier League Stats | StatMuse

Liverpool finished 1st in the Premier League in 2024-25 with a record of W25 D9 L4.

www.statmuse.com

Premier League Stats | FBref.com

Check out 2025-2026 for the Premier League Stats season.

fbref.com

https://optaplayerstats.statsperform.com/en_GB/soccer/premier-league-2024-2025/9n12waklv005j8r32sfjj2eqc/results

 

[Maybe Tomorrow]

Neto has left Bournemouth, should clear the way for Petrovic to be the clear number one.

United singing Sesko kills off Hojlund, who will now be sold.

 

[MrChristo]

No chance I'm altering sleep for this lol.

Curious about the best tactics though. Do you play AFL SC? Is the play here to go guns and rookies?

I've seen posts that players can have massive spike games and triple their price in a couple of weeks. So the plan is just make your best guess on the cheap guys and jump across to the players about to make money? Is it worth starting the likes of Salah and Cole? Or just wait for their price to drop?

Using Salah as an example, he started last year at 11.2mil, got to 21.9mil then finished at 8.2mil. Do you generally hold the guns? Or sell at their peak.

I'll give you a slightly different take...

As SELFCONFESDAFLNERD says, VC/C 24 hours apart is usually feasible. The trick is finding a non-playing GK who mostly plays late in the round. Trams in the UEFA Cup are generally a good place to look...

Another 'trick' if you are concerned about your players all playing (and prefer to sleep ) is to set your team up in a 4-4-2 formation so you have a sub on each line.

As for tactics, opposition/scheduling is much more of a thing in this game as opposed to the AFL version, and that means a few things...

• Be prepared to ride out a few dips in prices if good fixtures are upcoming. The 'cheapies' won't necessarily creep up in price to be sold when their b/e dictates.
• There aren't necessarily automatic "guns" to aim for.

AFL version we have a pretty good idea of who the top players will be on each line and aim to get them in asap, but this game isn't as "set & forget".
(And the sheer amount of high scoring Forwards specifically means that no-one is "essential").
[I won't be starting with either Salah or Haaland].
[Palmer as a Mid is the one and only No-brainer, I reckon].
- So equally, I do think there is merit in more 'mid-priced' players.

(It's probably worth mentioning the price here. The balance point for price/score is about 8. If a player consistently scores 8, they'll be worth ~8mil)...
...and I've found that, especially in the Midfield, there is absolutely value in a solid 8 scorer. Someone who'll consistently get their 6-7-8's regardless of opposition, with the odd goal or assist, is gold.
A few years back when Dwight McNeil was a Mid...
Declan Rice last year. Tielemans. Norgaard...your less spectacular types.
(Elliot Anderson is very much on my radar this year).

In a way Defenders encapsulate all of this!
Obviously only needing 2 to play each week makes them a little less important, but using them solely as cash cows can limit your team.
1) It only takes one big loss to kill their price. (Or even a poor score in every 3 game cycle will hurt).
Burnley (for example) play @ Man U in week 3, then LP in 4 and @ City/Villa in 6/7.
I can see a Walker-type actually losing money in the first 2 months.
[I'm not commenting specifically on Walker here. Just using him as an example!]

2) An attacking defender who has a good run of potential clean sheet games is as good as any midfielder.
Antonee Robinson was one of my first picked last year @ £8.2mil.
7, 17, 13, 12, 6, 11...were his first 6 scores.

Anyway, I think that's enough from me.

Good luck all!

 

[Bushranger2019]

First time EPL fantasy player.
Appreciate any thoughts/assistance with this team.

 

[Atavistic]

Sesko added at 6.5m.

 

[SELFCONFESDAFLNERD]

Sesko added at 6.5m.

Reasonable price but in my opinion still hard to pick

 

[vsberlina]

First time EPL fantasy player.
Appreciate any thoughts/assistance with this team.

View attachment 2392134

Sesko signed for MAN. Hojlund told to pack his bags (literally).

Rodri injured. Likely won't be back until GW4.

Doesn't look like there's room for Mainoo with Sesko, Cunha, Mbeumo, Bruno, Amad, Casemiro & Mount being prefered.

Hamed Traore has failed at EPL level twice before. Has seen time pre-season cos 3 players are injured.
He'll be the first to go if they're fit, and might even be shipped out on loan again.

As MrChristo said, stay away from BUR DEF at the start, due to tough fixtures.
One of the Leeds lads like Rodon or Bogle are better. Bogle with a niggly so might miss out GW1.
Schmidt will be in for him, but he's schitt. Stay away from him.

 

[vsberlina]

Salah, Haaland and Palmer for VC/C options. SKs if fit. Will trade Salah in/out when he goes to AFCON for likely 6 games.

Wirtz with some SPs. A placeholder at $8m to get almost anyone else (Gyokeres, Sesko, Rogers) in one trade if needed.

Adingra with EPL experience and good pts per 90 mins. Should see more time than he did at BRI. Great value.

ELF took SPs last season. Hoping Xhaka doesn't steal them. If he does, there's options at that price to get someone else in GW3 (like a settled Grealish).

Stach now playing in a likely 4-3-3 formation for Leeds, so will be playing CM, not the usual DM. I see more attacking pts coming than his previous season at Hoffenheim. Took SPs in pre-season.

KDH playing in McNeil's role. Taking SPs in pre-season. McNeil got to $8.3m listed as a FOR.
KDH listed as MID, will get 2 pts more for a goal and 2 CS pts. Should make cash.

Porro gets most SPs when Maddison is injured. Maddison is injured. ACL for the whole season likely.
Spurs with a great fixture ticker early on. No UCL until after GW4. Best of the premium DEF based on fixtures.

De Cuyper very attacking. Comes from a lesser quality league, but had pedigree in Europe. I think he'll handle the EPL.
Good 3/4 early fixtures as well.

Maatsen not nailed with Digne fully fit. Digne getting old. Maatsen did extremely well when he got a chance at the end of last season. As Villa play 2nd, I can change him to someone else if he's not starting.

Ma Leeds boys. Leeds would have had a better defence if Meisler didn't do so many howlers. LEE with a new GK.
Bogle with a niggly. If he's not fit, Schmidt will be a weak link in that defence. But I'll happily hold him for GW2 onwards.

Would prefer Sanchez, but not enough funds ($40k left). Vicario will have to do.
Usually not that much between GKs in the long term, so I'll stick with Vicario for 7 GWs.
Kinsky same price if Vicario isn't No.1. Hopefully they don't get rotated.

Marschall. The POD that everyone wishes they had (and can no longer get).

 

[SELFCONFESDAFLNERD]

Tempted by the all out attacking defenders strategy.

It does mean I'm relying on several cheap mids but I think they all play early in the season.

King seems to be in favour at Fulham this pre season so I prefer him than a more popular Traore.

 

[MrChristo]

Salah is almost a make or break isn't he...

Did Slot's system do the trick, or did he just have an unbelievable, unsustainable year?
Interesting, because Liverpool's overall attack last year had less SiB, BC's and xG than the year before, but Salah had an enormous amount of touches in the box.

I'm the first to admit that I know nothing about European football, but I get the feeling that Wirtz is very much in the KdB mould. I just think he's better value than Mo (although I'll be panicking every game they play).
[Sorry, hadn't actually looked at your team before I wrote that, vsberlina , bold! I like it. ]

I'm finding it hard to justify leaving Pedro out though. Despite Delap. Great early run for Chelsea and he's been on song in preseason.
Haaland? Controversial take, but I think we're all over-rating him based off 2022 when he went nuts. Man City's attack was down overall last year, and class player, obviously!...but to me he's just a talented striker in a solid attacking unit.
So's Watkins for 3 mil less.

Saka also had a down year with injury to blame (was averaging 14.5 at his peak last year!)...but we can't have them all. (A big reason that I really like this version of the game!).

Might Muniz get to Leeds? (Or could he at least just f*ck off?! ). Would seriously consider Jiminez if he was the lone strike option for the first 5-6 weeks. Less Pereira = more set pieces (how was his last free kick?!) and penalties...
(Great shout on King too, SELFCONFESDAFLNERD , agree!)

But you know what, despite all the value in the Mids, Fullkrug has my early backing as starting cheapy of the season... (Injury aside of course. He might well break 20 minutes in...). Certain starter in the Hammers 2 man front. That trip to NFO in week 3 sucks, but I still think he's worth a look.

Love Stach as a pick, but waiting for week 3 to see what happens in the Arsenal game. If he looks like making money he's in for sure. Leeds have a potentially great run from 3 - 10...

Based on pre-season games, I don't think Le Fee starts.

 

[SELFCONFESDAFLNERD]

I really like the Fullkrug shout. He has been locked in my FPL team for a little while. Great matchup first up. Fingers crossed Wilson doesnt impact him but i tend to think he wont be a factor early. I did hear someone mention that Wilson may take time away from Fullkrug after the first International break but i think that was just conjecture. Fingers crossed Fullkrug stays fit!

Ive started considering picking both Frimpong & Bradley and just play the one that starts. Unfortunately because of the timing of games i could get into trouble doing that haha. I might just take Frimpong out unless there is word Bradley's injury is significant!

How its looking at the moment, i may even start with a decent amount of cash in hand. Or i can upgrade my keeper i guess.

On Salah, i almost dont know what to think anymore. Logically, i dont think he can keep going at the same level but he just keeps on keeping on. I really dont care that he has had an indifferent pre season, we wont know until the real stuff starts whether he will be as good, better or worse.

Lots to consider and only a few days to go!

 

[Maybe Tomorrow]

Question from a newbie.

When I played FPL there were weeks when some teams played more than once. I see SC has 38 game weeks, what happens when games get rescheduled? Will some teams effectively have byes then double up later in the year? If my player plays twice do I get both scores?

I looked in the help section but didn't see it mentioned.

 

[MrChristo]

Question from a newbie.

When I played FPL there were weeks when some teams played more than once. I see SC has 38 game weeks, what happens when games get rescheduled? Will some teams effectively have byes then double up later in the year? If my player plays twice do I get both scores?

I looked in the help section but didn't see it mentioned.

I almost wrote about this earlier. Re: trades.

There are always blank game weeks (when some teams miss) and then Double game weeks when those 'missed' weeks are made up.
If everything else is equal (*) then the FA Cup is the thing. Semi finals are usually scheduled on the weekend of normal EPL games, so (again, usually) 4 teams will miss (which can affect 8 teams...)
These will be from week 30 onwards...
Usually 33 is a blank, 34 and 37 are doubles to make up the games, but nothing is ever really clear until a week or two before that.

The only thing that is clear is that you'll need a few trades up your sleeve if you want to aim for the very pointy end.

Even then, for seasoned FPL players, this comp tends to have different cut off's re: double game weeks.
FPL tends to start a game week on Friday regardless, whereas this comp is relatively (and frustratingly!) fluid with which games are included in which weeks. (And we often don't know until the week before! )

Tldr: Don't go all AFL trade happy!

(*) There are semi-regular weather affected games that will be cancelled and be rescheduled for 'double game weeks' where the game will be caught up midweek.

 

[vsberlina]

Salah is almost a make or break isn't he...

Did Slot's system do the trick, or did he just have an unbelievable, unsustainable year?
Interesting, because Liverpool's overall attack last year had less SiB, BC's and xG than the year before, but Salah had an enormous amount of touches in the box.

I'm the first to admit that I know nothing about European football, but I get the feeling that Wirtz is very much in the KdB mould. I just think he's better value than Mo (although I'll be panicking every game they play).
[Sorry, hadn't actually looked at your team before I wrote that, vsberlina , bold! I like it. ]

I'm finding it hard to justify leaving Pedro out though. Despite Delap. Great early run for Chelsea and he's been on song in preseason.
Haaland? Controversial take, but I think we're all over-rating him based off 2022 when he went nuts. Man City's attack was down overall last year, and class player, obviously!...but to me he's just a talented striker in a solid attacking unit.
So's Watkins for 3 mil less.

Saka also had a down year with injury to blame (was averaging 14.5 at his peak last year!)...but we can't have them all. (A big reason that I really like this version of the game!).

Might Muniz get to Leeds? (Or could he at least just f*ck off?! ). Would seriously consider Jiminez if he was the lone strike option for the first 5-6 weeks. Less Pereira = more set pieces (how was his last free kick?!) and penalties...
(Great shout on King too, SELFCONFESDAFLNERD , agree!)

But you know what, despite all the value in the Mids, Fullkrug has my early backing as starting cheapy of the season... (Injury aside of course. He might well break 20 minutes in...). Certain starter in the Hammers 2 man front. That trip to NFO in week 3 sucks, but I still think he's worth a look.

Love Stach as a pick, but waiting for week 3 to see what happens in the Arsenal game. If he looks like making money he's in for sure. Leeds have a potentially great run from 3 - 10...

Based on pre-season games, I don't think Le Fee starts.

I always take pre-season with a grain of salt. Playing against reserves and even thirds, it gives beer goggles.
Pedro got 5 PKG last season. Even if he gets 5 extra goals from open play, he's at value.
Then there's the Delap threat. Then there's the fact that CHE strikers become useless once they move to CHE.
I'll punt on Pedro in FPL, but in this game, the misc pts make others better value picks.

I have a lot of respect for Fullkrug. Was a decent scorer before the injury. Hammers with a poor run after SUN, but at that price, a worthy punt. Can benefit from Bowen, and vice versa.

Yep, ELF is cooked. Makes my decision easy then. ELF to $3.5m Ampadu now, Maatsen to a $3.75m DEF, and Sanchez in. Really didn't want Vicario, as I have Porro. New team posted below.

 

[vsberlina]