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 seventh part of our Season Preview series, we’re taking a look at Manchester City and a Manchester United that finished 15th last season.
MANCHESTER CITY – General preview for 2025/26
The 2024 – 2025 season was the 130th season in the existence of Manchester City and their 23rd consecutive season in the top flight, but after the standards that were set since the takeover in 2008, it is also a season fans won’t remember too fondly. With Liverpool running away with the title, a defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace in the League Cup final and an early elimination in the Champions League, the Cityzens ended the season without any silverware for the first time in eight years.
What’s more, qualification for this season’s Champions League was even in peril for the Abu Dhabi-owned club. It was a victory over Fulham in the final Gameweek of their 2024 – 2025 Premier League campaign that secured them a spot in the league stage of Europe’s elite competition. A third place in the Premier League is not what City fans have come accustomed to though, especially not when it means finishing 13 points behind champions Liverpool.
To avoid consecutive trophyless seasons, Man City returned to the basics, doing what they do best: buying new players. The Skyblues bought box-to-box midfielder Tijani Reijnders from AC Milan, Wolves left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri and Lyon prodigy Ryan Cherki for around £120 million, while Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford was brought in to compete with Ederson. On the outgoing side, the City management decided it was time to get rid of some of the older players on their roster, regardless of their status and performance in some cases. The biggest names to leave the club on a permanent basis (and for free) were right-back Kyle Walker and club legend Kevin de Bruyne, while right-back Yan Couto was sold to Borussia Dortmund for about £17 million.
Manchester City: Tactical preview 2025/26
Pep Guardiola’s tactical approach to football is well known by now. Or better said, the fundamentals of his approach to the games, regardless of the opponent: possession-based, dominant, attacking, and tactically disciplined but flexible. Under the Catalan manager, City’s build-up play is methodical, with defenders and especially fullbacks moving into midfield to create overloads further up the pitch. With the quality of players at his disposal, this allows City to dominate the tempo of their games while largely maintaining their structure.
Generally, Pep starts game with a 4-3-3 formation or a variation thereof. During the recent Club World Cup, he lined up most often in a 4-1-4-1 formation, which in attack quickly turned into a kind of hybrid 3-2-4-1 formation with an inverted fullback bolstering the midfield without giving up offensive power. The risk, of course, is that the Cityzens can be caught on the counter by equally strong and tactically intelligent sides, as we saw on more than a few occasions last season. Having said that, we expect the Man City attack to be hot property again this season, though rotation risk should always be in the back if your mind when it comes to Pep.
MANCHESTER CITY – Potential FPL picks
Manchester City have been handed a largely appealing set of opening fixtures for the 2025 – 2026 season, which consists of just two opponents from last season’s top eight in the first eight Gameweeks. As a result, we expect Gameweek 1 squads to feature plenty of Cityzen assets, including Erling Haaland (£14.0m). Like the rest of his team, the Norwegian goalgetter went through a serious dip in form last season, but he nevertheless still ended the campaign with 22 goals and 3 assists for a total of 181 FPL points. Sure, that’s well below his tally from 2023 – 2024 (27 goals & 8 assists for 217 FPL points) and 2022 – 2023 (36 goals & 9 assists for 272 FPL points), but it showed that even when the team is not having its best season, he still knows how to find the back of the net. Haaland will nevertheless be aiming for a considerable improvement of those numbers this season and if Guardiola manages to whip his side back into trophy-candidate shape, you probably don’t want to go without the Norway international in your team.
One of the main “victims” of Manchester City’s lesser 2024 – 2025 campaign was Phil Foden (£8.0m), who reached just 105 FPL points. The England international managed just 7 goals and 3 assists from 20 league starts and 1,771 Premier League minutes in total, after impressing a season earlier with no less than 230 FPL points, courtesy of 19 goals and 8 assists. The reason we are including Foden in our list of potential FPL picks from the Manchester City roster, besides his undeniable quality, is the departure of Kevin de Bruyne. With the Belgian now aiming for the Serie A with Napoli, Foden has the opportunity to establish himself as the team’s new creator-in-chief. He was good during the Club World Cup and it seems like Pep will put his trust in him for the start of the 2025 – 2026 Premier League. At a price of £8.0m, Foden could be an affordable route into one of the best attacks in the competition.
Josip Gvardiol was Manchester City’s highest-scoring defender last season, in big part thanks to his regular deployment as a winger. We suspect though, with the arrival of Wolves left-back Rayan Aït-Nouri (£6.0m), that the Croatian will be considerably more limited to a central role in the back this season. That is why we are going with City’s new £32-million acquisition instead, as we expect him to be first choice at left-back under Guardiola, at least in Gameweek 1. As a wingback, RAN got an impressive 4 goals and 7 assists to his name, on top of 7 clean sheets, which resulted in 125 FPL points for Wolves in 2024/25. Logic dictates that the Moroccan should only improve on those stats this season, as he will be playing for a considerably better team.
MANCHESTER UNITED – General preview for 2025/26
We can be brief when it comes to describing Manchester United’s 2024 – 2025 campaign. With a 15th place in the league, a 5th Round exit in the FA Cup and a Quarter-final exit in the League Cup, it is regarded as one of the worst seasons in the club’s history. The only positive from the season in terms of performances was the final of the UEFA Europa League, which they lost against Spurs in a very forgettable final. The fact that this probably was the season’s highlight only emphasises how much of a disaster the 2024 – 2025 season was for Man United.
In the Premier League, the club managed just 42 points, the lowest points tally since the infamous 1973 – 1974 season, when the club was relegated. The resulting 15th place represented their lowest finish since 1989 – 1990. As a result of their horrific domestic performances, the Europa League final was the only way left for the Red Devils to get into Europe. The 1-0 defeat at the hands of Spurs in the final means that Manchester United will not be active in any European competition this season for the first time since the 2013 – 2014 season.
The upcoming season will be the first full season in charge for Ruben Amorim, who replaced interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy in November of last year. The Dutchman had taken over from his compatriot Erik ten Hag a few weeks prior. It will therefore be interesting to see how the Portuguese manager will line up in Gameweek 1, especially after emphasising on several occasions last season that the real impact of his arrival would start to be felt from this summer’s pre-season and onwards. One thing we do know already is that he will have a host of big-money signing at his disposal, including Wolves forward Matheus Cunha (£63 million), Brentford star Bryan Mbeumo (£70 million) and RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko (£74 million).
Manchester United: Tactical preview 2025/26
In order to get a better idea of what Amorim’s Manchester United will look like, we recommend keeping an eye on the club’s pre-season. The former Sporting Lisbon manager is expected to bring the Red Devils back to at least the top six in the Premier League and he is expected to do it fast, especially after a disastrous second half of last season (largely outside of his own fault). It looks like he will be doing so with a 3-4-3 formation, though flexibility is the name of the game. During games, Amorim likes his team to be able to adapt to situations and shifting opposing tactics, which results in a variety of formations, including 4-3-3, 5-2-3 and even 4-2-4.
In terms of fundamentals, the Portuguese manager wants to see high intensity and defensive focus, especially in the central areas. He likes his wing-backs to push forward, which means that his central defenders need to be able to play a high line and cover large areas at times. In the middle of the park, there is usually a solid block to provide both protection for the backline and distribution for the attackers and wingers. As the wing-backs are encouraged to create width and overlap, Amorim wants to play a direct type of football that gets the ball into the opponent’s danger areas as soon as possible.
MANCHESTER UNITED – Potential FPL picks
In FPL, we sometimes speak of fixture-proof players when discussing players who have the ability to get FPL points regardless of the opponent. Bruno Fernandes (£9.0m) is such a player, but not just that. He is perhaps also one of the players who is “own-team-form-proof”, for the lack of a better term. Manchester United have not been performing up to par for years now, but their Portuguese playmaker has kept delivering, nonetheless. While he never managed to surpass the performance from his first full season at Old Trafford (18 goals, 24 assists, 244 FPL points), he has steadily managed more than 150 FPL in each of the following seasons. In 35 league starts last season, Bruno scored 8 goals and 12 assists, which represented a direct involvement in no less than 45% (!) of all league goals scored by the Red Devils. He will certainly one of the main men, if not the main man, under Amorim and we expect him to keep his set-piece duties as well, which include penalties. The only potential downside to Bruno is that his role might be a bit deeper this season, due to the arrival of Cunha and Mbeumo.
To be very honest, there are not many more players on the Manchester United roster that really catch our FPL manager eye at the moment although the arrivals of Cunha and Mbeumo (both £8.0m midfield) do need watching. That is in part due to their poor 2024 – 2025 season and in pat due to their difficult set of opening fixtures. Having said that, a lot of managers will want to bring in more than one Red Devil, in which case Amad Diallo (£6.5m) looks interesting. The 23-year-old had his breakout season under Amorim last season, despite his side’s terrible form. In 20 league starts and 1,898 Premier League minutes in total, he got a very impressive 8 goals and 8 assists for 129 FPL points. He looks like Amorim’s first-choice at right-wing-back, where he will get plenty of freedom to bomb forward, especially after proving his worth in an attacking sense last season. The downside is that Amad is listed as a midfielder in the official fantasy game, meaning that he only gets 1 point per clean sheet. At the same time, his £6.5m price tag makes him a very budget-friendly option for your midfield.
The striker position has been a hot seat at Old Trafford in the past few seasons, to say the least. Manchester United splashed the cash on a new major forward in almost every transfer window, including Joshua Zirkzee last season (£40 million from Bologna) and Rasmus Hojlund the season prior (£70 million from Atalanta), and they have done so again this season. Just a few days ago, United paid £74 million (excluding bonuses) for striker Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig. At the moment of writing, the Slovenian has not even been added to FPL yet, but we expect his price tag to hover around the £9.0m mark. With Hojlund currently being linked with a move to AC Milan, we expect him to slot into Ruben Amorim’s starting eleven rather quickly, though Gameweek 1 could be a tad too early. Keep an eye on the news surrounding Sesko over the coming days, as he could be an interesting fantasy option, especially from Gameweek 7 onwards, when United’s schedule starts clearing up a bit. Last season for Leipzig, he scored 21 goals (including 4 goals in the Champions League) and provided 6 assists in 45 games.
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.