In our fantasy EPL Sprint article yesterday we highlighted the idea behind the Fanteam EPL Final Sprint, a mini-season fantasy contest starting in Gameweek 30 on 14th March 2026, covering the last nine Premier League Gameweeks (GW30–GW38) of the 2025/26 campaign. Today we focus on planning your team selection to help you grab a share of the £20,000 minimum guaranteed prize pool. Tomorrow we will publish another article on selecting teams based on doubling up the defenders/GK.
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First a reminder of the rules:
How the Final Sprint Works
The format is designed to keep the game fast-moving and tactical across the nine Gameweeks. Below is an example of how you might select your team within the £85m budget and plan your transfers:
Possible FanTeam EPL Sprint starting team (GW30)
Bernd Leno – Fulham – GK – £4.7m
Virgil van Dijk – Liverpool – DEF – £5.8m
Trevoh Chalobah – Chelsea – DEF – £5.3m
Hill – Bournemouth – DEF – £4.1m
Bruno Fernandes – Man Utd – MID – £8.6m
Cole Palmer – Chelsea – MID – £10.8m
Semenyo – Man City – MID – £7.5m
Morgan Rogers – Aston Villa – MID – £7.7m
Erling Haaland – Man City – FWD – £13.4m
Ollie Watkins – Aston Villa – FWD – £9.2m
João Pedro – Chelsea – FWD – £7.6m
Total: £84.7m
Why this team
This squad is trying to do two things at once:
- Maximise GW30 points
- Avoid getting trapped by the GW31 Arsenal/Man City blank
That’s why it has:
- only 2 Man City players
- 0 Arsenal players at the start
- heavy investment in Chelsea, Villa, Liverpool and Man Utd
- one budget Bournemouth defender to keep money free for premiums
Core strengths of this squad
- Haaland still has the best potential single-player ceiling in the game.
- Palmer and João Pedro are both elite recent-form picks and Chelsea’s run is very usable.
- Bruno Fernandes combines strong total points with a very playable run.
- Watkins and Rogers give you Villa exposure without overcommitting to the tougher late fixtures.
- Virgil could be one of the best defender picks because he combines strong total points, strong recent form and a solid fixture run.
- Leno is a cheap, reliable goalkeeper with a decent short-term schedule.
Why not to start with Arsenal
Arsenal do have a strong run overall, but they blank in GW31, and with only 11 players in the FanTeam format, every blank really matters.
Because there are no transfer carryovers, you do not gain anything by sitting on too many blanking assets early. It is cleaner to:
- start with no Arsenal
- exploit Haaland and Semenyo in GW30 (away to West Ham)
- then use transfers in GW31
- and reintroduce Arsenal after the blank
That is a better Sprint-game structure than forcing Arsenal in from the beginning.
GW30 captaincy
Captain: Haaland (away at West Ham)
Vice-captain: Palmer (home to Newcastle)
That gives you:
- a high upside player in the game as captain
- a strong vice-captain with a high recent-form profile and secure role
GW31 transfer plan
This is the key week because Man City blank and Arsenal blank.
Your starting team only has 2 blankers:
- Haaland
- Semenyo
That is manageable with 1 spare transfer for injury/suspension.
Recommended GW31 transfers
1. Haaland ➜ Ekitiké
Liverpool have a good short-term run and Ekitiké gives you an active forward immediately.
2. Semenyo ➜ Alex Iwobi
Fulham’s GW31 fixture is attractive and Iwobi’s recent form is strong for the price.
3. Hill ➜ Kristoffer Ajer
Brentford’s run from GW31 onwards is very useful and this improves the defence without breaking the budget.
That would leave you with a GW31 team of:
- Leno
- Virgil
- Chalobah
- Ajer
- Fernandes
- Palmer
- Rogers
- Iwobi
- Watkins
- João Pedro
- Ekitiké
This avoids the blank cleanly and uses all 3 free transfers without taking hits.
Wildcard plan
Best Wildcard timing: GW32? Or GW34?
GW32 could be a clean point to use the Wildcard because:
- the Arsenal and Man City blank is gone
- you can immediately rebuild around the best GW32–38 runs
- you still have 7 Gameweeks left to exploit the new squad
Do not use the Wildcard in GW30 or GW31 unless injury chaos forces it. Also consider keeping it available until you know if there will be more blank or double GWs – such as in GW34 due to FA Cup matches.
What the GW32 Wildcard should target
Looking at the FDR, the clubs you may most want to load up on from GW32 onward may be:
- Arsenal
- Man City
- Liverpool
- Man Utd
- Brentford
- Aston Villa
Why
Arsenal
After the blank they get: BOU, MCI, NEW, FUL, WHU, BUR, CRY
The key stretch is especially good from GW35–GW37.
Man City
After the blank they still offer elite upside with: CHE, ARS, BUR, EVE, BRE, BOU, AV
There are enough green fixtures in there to justify bringing Haaland back quickly.
Liverpool
FUL, EVE, CRY, MUN, CHE, AV, BRE
Excellent home matches and a strong balanced run on a team striving for Champions League qualification again.
Man Utd
LEE, CHE, BRE, LIV, SUN, NFO, BHA
Leeds, Brentford, Sunderland and Forest all stand out.
Brentford
EVE, FUL, MUN, WHU, MCI, CRY, LIV
Great value club for with 4 easy and 3 hard fixtures..
Aston Villa
NFO, SUN, FUL, TOT, BUR, LIV, MCI
There is a very good stretch from GW32–GW36.
Suggested GW32 Wildcard core
Your Wildcard spine may look something like:
- Gabriel or Timber
- Haaland
- Semenyo
- Bruno Fernandes
- Virgil
- Watkins
- Rogers
- Palmer
- João Pedro
- one or two Brentford value picks
- one or two extra Arsenal slots
You do not need to commit to the exact GW32 team now, but the structure could be:
- 3 Arsenal
- 2 Man City
- 2 Liverpool
- 1–2 Man Utd
- 1–2 Villa
- 1–2 Brentford/Chelsea
Simple week-by-week Sprint plan
GW30
Attack upside immediately.
Captain Haaland?
GW31
Use the 3 free transfers to remove the City blankers and improve one weak slot.
GW32
Wildcard into Arsenal + City + Liverpool + Brentford + United.
GW33–GW38
Use the weekly 3 transfers aggressively.
Because transfers do not roll, there is no reason to play cautiously.
Treat each week as a short sprint inside the bigger sprint.
Why this approach gives you a strong chance
This plan avoids the two biggest mistakes in this format:
- loading up on blanking players too early
- holding the Wildcard too long (although check what will happen in GW34 due to FA Cup matches)
It gives you:
- a strong GW30 starting XI
- a simple GW31 escape route
- a powerful GW32 reset
- and a clear route into the best fixture runs for the final seven Gameweeks