Welcome back to the Fantasy Premier League and welcome back to FISO!
The 2024-2025 Premier League season has gone into the rich archives of English football as the season in which Liverpool FC won their 20th title in the topflight of English football. A record-equalling 20th title, we should say, because the Reds equalled the 20 titles of their archrivals Manchester United, who won their last one back in the 2012-13 season. And all of that in the very first season of Arne Slot, the Dutch manager who was brought in from Feyenoord in the summer of 2024.
While that was a beautiful story, the Premier League offered much more drama than that. What about the crumbling of the traditional top six, for example? With Manchester United the great disappointment as a result of their finish in 15th (!) place? Of course, Spurs did even worse, finishing 17th (!), but the Londoners deviated the embarrassment a bit by winning the 2024-2025 Europa League (against Manchester United in the final), thus qualifying for the Champions League Group Stage. Or what about Nottingham Forest qualifying for European football for the first time in 30 years, thanks to an impressive 7th-place finish?
In other words, it was a season full of ups and downs, spectacle and disappointment, but as the saying goes: we need to move on. The Premier League 2025-2026 is just a few weeks away at the time of writing, which means that FPL preparations are in full swing for millions of fantasy managers. And there are a few important changes to take into account, once again:
Chips: Fantasy managers will have four chips at their disposal this season, namely the Bench Boost, the Free Hit, the Triple Captain and the Wildcard. Last season’s Assistant Manager chip has been removed from the game. Instead, all four of the previously mentioned chips will be available twice this season: once in the first half of the season and once in the second half.
Defensive points: Outfield players will earn points for defensive actions this season. These include clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles for defenders, while forwards and midfielders also get points for ball recoveries on top of that. A defender gets 2 extra FPL points for every 10 defensive actions, while forwards and midfielders get 2 extra FPL points for every 12 defensive actions.
Bonus Point System changes: This season, goalkeepers now get 3 (instead of 2) bonus points for saved shots from inside the box, while a penalty save is now worth 8 bonus system points (down from 9 bonus system points). A scored penalty is now worth 12 bonus system points for the scoring player, instead of 18 or 24. Goalline clearances from outfield players have gone up in worth, from 3 to 9 bonus points. Finally, every successful tackle is now worth 2 bonus points.
Assists: For assists that took a deflection off a defender, assists will now be awarded regardless of whether the assist reached its intended target, providing it only took one touch off a defender and was received by the goalscorer inside the penalty area. Unforced defensive errors will also now lead to an assist being given by the player whose pass led to it, as long as the defensive error in question is not a misplaced pass. Players will now also earn an assist if they earn a penalty or free-kick that is scored via a handball, regardless of whether it was forced or unforced.
AFCON transfers: The Africa Cup of Nations will take place between Gameweek 16 and Gameweek 22 of the 2025-2026 FPL season. Fantasy managers receive five free transfers at the start of Gameweek 16 to deal with that.
The Premier League 2025-2026 season is set to kick off on Friday, August 15th, at 20h00 (UK time), when champions Liverpool host Bournemouth at Anfield.
In the build-up to gameweek 1, we will be taking an in-depth look at each of the 20 teams competing in the Premier League this season, including a general team preview, a tactical preview and some FPL recommendations per side. In this tenth and final part of our Season Preview series, we’re taking a look at West Ham United and a Wolves side getting ready for its first full season under manager Vitor Pereira.
WEST HAM – General preview for 2025/26
In May 2024, Julen Lopetegui was appointed as West Ham United’s new manager, right after the news that the contract of David Moyes would not be extended. While that decision might have been understandable as far as league performances were concerned, with a 14th place finish in 2022 – 2023 and a 9th place finish in 2023 – 2024, it was surprising from a non-domestic point of view. Moyes had led the Hammers to three consecutive seasons in Europe at that point, something that had never happened before in West Ham history, with their victory in the final of 2022 – 2023 UEFA Conference League as the absolute highlight.
Lopetegui was brought in to emphasise the club’s great ambitions, both in terms of silverware and style of play, but it never really clicked with the Spanish manager. Despite spending more than £120 million on new players last summer, Lopetegui never managed to really get the Hammers going, which eventually led to his sacking in January of this year after just twenty games in charge. His replacement Graham Potter did not fare much better result-wise, winning just five of the remaining 18 games in the season. West Ham ended the season in 14th place and more will be expected from the former Chelsea manager this season, after his first full pre-season as the club’s manager.
In terms of transfers, West Ham suffered a considerable blow from the departure of Mohammed Kudus, though Spurs compensated them well with around £55 million. On the other hand, the Hammers did bring in an interesting set of new players as well, led by OGC Nice and former Barcelona central defender Jean-Clair Todibo for around £33 million. They also spent £19 million on Slavia Prague midfielder Malich Diouf and around £20 million on Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen. Right-back Kyle Walker-Peters and forward Callum Wilson were brought in on free transfers from Southampton and Newcastle, respectively.
West Ham: Tactical preview 2025/26
Even though Graham Potter only has around twenty games under his belt as West Ham manager at this point, it is not difficult to have an idea of the kind of football he likes to play. After a year at Swansea, he spent three years at Brighton and about seven months in charge of Chelsea. The Englishman has built of a reputation for his tactical prowess and flexibility, with a preference for attacking football based on possession of the ball.
Formation-wise, Potter usually starts with a 4-2-3-1 or even a 3-4-2-1, which we expect him to do for most parts of the coming season as well. He wants his team to dominate games through possession with an emphasis on building up from the back. Potter makes particular use of wing-backs, which explains the use of the previously mentioned formations, to create overloads in midfield in combination with an aggressive high press. The Englishman is not rigid in his tactical approach to games and opponents, and often tweaks his formations and strategies according to the situation at hand.
WEST HAM – Potential FPL picks
While the West Ham roster boasts a few potentially interesting fantasy picks, there is a clear stand-out in the person of Jarrod Bowen (£8.0m). For several seasons now, the 28-year-old has been the team’s talisman and it shows in his FPL numbers as well. Last season, despite a mediocre performance from the club as a whole, Bowen got away with an impressive 193 FPL points, courtesy of no less than 13 goals and 11 assists. The season before that, he recorded 182 FPL points, scoring 16 goals and providing 6 assists. If, despite West Ham’s tough opening set of fixtures, you are set on bringing in a Hammer for your Gameweek 1 squad, Bowen is the way to go. For a player that seems largely immune to fixtures, opponents and the form of his own team, £8.0m is an acceptable price, though it should be noted that this season, he has been reclassified from a midfielder to a forward. That means one less point for a goal and a clean sheet, but more potential points as a result of reviewed defensive bonus points system this season.
We mentioned it already in our brief tactical preview of West Ham under Potter, but the wing-backs are expected to play key roles this season. Therefore, Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.5m) is firmly on our radar, especially from Gameweek 5 onwards, when West Ham’s schedule softens a bit. The right-back was bought from Manchester United for around £15 million last summer and made a great impression in his first season as a Hammer, despite the team’s mediocre season overall. AWB got 35 league starts in total, in which he managed an excellent 2 goals and 6 assists for a total of 118 FPL points. The club did sign Kyle Walker-Peters as competition for his spot at right-back this season, but we expect the spot to be his to lose at the moment. After a full pre-season with Potter, we see potential here for expert-tackler Wan-Bissaka to show why Manchester United decided to splash out £50 million for him in 2019, after only his first full season as a member of Crystal Palace’s first team.
James Ward-Prowse (£6.0m) is something of a personal favourite, so keep that in mind, but we also feel that he could be an interesting fantasy pick as part of Graham Potter’s West Ham. Going by pre-season so far, it looks like JWP will be starting under Potter and while he will be playing in a slightly deeper role than you would generally like to see from your FPL midfielders, he has his special weapon. That special weapon, of course, is his right foot, especially when it comes to set-pieces. The Englishman holds the Southampton (Matt le Tissier’s club, mind you) Premier League record for most free-kicks scored, he has the league’s best free-kick conversation rate and was called “the best free-kick taker I have seen in my life” by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (who managed, amongst many other superstars, Lionel Messi). As part of a struggling West Ham side, last season was not his best in terms of league starts and goal involvements, with just 1 goal and 2 assists from 1,433 Premier League minutes. His prior seasons read much better, though: 7 goals and 7 assists (146 FPL points) in 2023 – 2024, 9 goals and 4 assists (142 FPL points) in 2022 – 2023, 10 goals and 5 assists (159 FPL points) in 2021 – 2022 and 8 goals and 7 assists (156 FPL points) in 2020 – 2021.
WOLVES – General preview for 2025/26
For a long time last season, it looked like Wolves were going to be one of the first teams to be relegated. They failed to win any of their first ten games, taking just 9 points from that run, with a 19th place in the ranking as result. In December, manager Gary O’Neil was sacked and replaced by Vitor Pereira, thus continuing the club’s “modern tradition” of betting on Portuguese talent on and off the pitch, led by the Portuguese super-agent Jorge Mendes who wields considerable influence over the club despite not being part of its ownership.
The arrival of the Portuguese manager did help turn around the club’s fortunes, as he quickly decided on a relatively settled formation, in contrast to his predecessor, who was often accused of tinkering too much. In great part thanks to a six-game winning streak, a first for Wolves in the topflight since 1970, Pereira managed to comfortably secure the club’s Premier League survival with five games to spare. After his first full pre-season, we expect Wolves to aim for a top-ten finish this season, especially if the second half of last season is anything to go by.
They will have to do without their star player, Matheus Cunha, though, who was sold to Manchester United earlier this summer for around £62 million. In Rayan Aït-Nouri, Wolves also lost another key player, as the attacking left-back moved to Manchester City for around £32 million. So far, the club has used part of those funds to bring in striker Jorgen Strand Larsen (who was on loan from Celta de Vigo last season), right-wingers Fer Lopez (from Celta) and Jhon Arias (from Fluminense) and left-back David Moller Wolfe from Dutch side AZ Alkmaar. It will be interesting to see how Wolves will deal with the departure of play-maker Cunha, who registered 15 goals and 7 assists for them last season, and Aït-Nouri, who got 4 goals and 7 assists last season.
Wolves: Tactical preview 2025/26
In great part due to the acute necessity for results and points when he was appointed in December 2024, Vitor Pereira built his Wolves team on a solid defensive foundation. Often lining up with 5 defenders, he seemed to prefer a 3-4-2-1 formation with a tight block in the middle and wing-backs who could provide the three attacking players with ammunition. This was a particular good fit for the marauding Aït-Nouri, who, as we mentioned earlier, bagged 4 goals and 7 assists as the left-wing-back in this system.
It remains to be seen to what extent this tactic can be effective with the current squad as well, as Matheus Cunha’s exceptional qualities made a lot of it possible. Wolves have got a decent, physically strong lone striker in the person of Strand Larsen though, so we expect more direct play and counterattacks from them this season. Pereira will first and foremost want to make sure that his side is stable in the back before looking too much at the output at the other end of the pitch.
WOLVES – Potential FPL picks
At first glance, the current Wolves roster does not boast too many picks with FPL potential, also in part due to their mixed bag of opening fixtures. They are opening the season with a home game against Man City, followed by a visit to Bournemouth, a home game against Everton, a visit to Newcastle, a home game versus Leeds and a visit to Spurs. Despite that, and largely thanks to his reasonable price tag, Jorgen Strand Larsen (£6.5m) might appear in more than a few Gameweek 1 squads. At the moment of writing, he sits in just over 5% of all squads and a few more million squads are still expected to join the official fantasy game in the last days before the Gameweek 1 deadline. As a lone striker on loan, the Norway international bagged a very respectable 14 goals in 30 league starts last season, plus 4 assists for a total of 145 FPL points. He looks like a nailed-on piece of Vitor Pereira’s starting eleven and should have penalty duties in his locker as well this season.
Another potentially interesting FPL pick from the Wolves roster is Ki-Jana Hoever (£4.0m), not in the least thanks to his bargain price tag. The right-wing-back is vacant after the departure of Nelson Semedo on a free transfer to Fenerbahce and if pre-season is anything to go by, the Dutchman seems to be Pereira’s preferred choice there at the moment. It should be noted though, that he is facing competition from Pedro Lima, who is also priced at £4.0m, by the way. Hoever was loaned out to Ligue 1 side AJ Auxerre last season, where he got 30 league starts in which he recorded 1 goal and 2 assists. The Dutchman is not known as a particularly quick, attack-oriented right-back, but as we wrote before, his price of just £4.0m makes him worth considering as a fifth defender in your squad, for example.
As we expect Vitor Pereira’s initial focus to be on settling his defence, in line with the modern school of Portuguese football, goalkeeper José Sá (£4.5m) is on our radar as well. For a very reasonable price, you get a proven Premier League asset with Sá, who recorded 93 FPL points last season, courtesy of 7 clean sheets, 2 saved penalties and 4 bonus points. In seasons prior, the Portuguese shot stopper got 107 FPL points (2023 – 2024), 148 FPL points (2022 – 2023) and 146 FPL points (2021 – 2022). With a few more clean sheets this season than last season, we would not be surprised to see his points tally reach those levels again this season. At a price of just £4.5m, he would represent excellent value in the official fantasy game, perhaps even as a cheap set-and-forget goalkeeper.
For further discussions have a look at FISO’s FPL forum where you can also see the FPL mini-leagues and FPL side-games available.