Always Cheating: A Fantasy Premier League Podcast

A wildly unpredictable weekend in the Premier League has provided fantasy managers with far more questions than answers as this new season lurches forward. What are we meant to take away from Leicester's demolition of Manchester City? Or Chelsea's disorganized draw at the Hawthorns? Or Wolves' capitulation to West Ham? We discuss what the GW3 results could mean for wildcard teams (including Brando...

After a wild goal-filled weekend, it's become even more difficult for FPL managers to gauge where they stand. It's easy to get caught between two minds—one that's patient, and another that's passive. So where does the early wildcard option come in? Well, let Brandon tell you, as he's already activated his own wildcard and is frisking the teams and fixtures for the best options for the future. Josh...

With just one weekend of Premier League fixtures under our belt, there's already plenty to discuss. We're talking in this episode about team and player performances and what we may have gotten right or wrong in our initial FPL planning. But what do we know for certain, as opposed to just knee-jerk reactions? Has Willian already cemented himself in the Arsenal attack? Is this rebuilt Everton squad...

The first deadline of the new FPL season is less than a week away and it's time to get serious about our GW1 squads. Josh and Brandon discuss the strategy behind each of their current fantasy drafts and pinpoint which players remain locked into their lineup versus those who may not make the final cut. Plus, we preview this weekend's eight fixtures, weigh the favorite captaincy options, and plan ah...

In a special bonus episode of the show, we’re joined by writer and podcaster Joe Lepper of Fantasy Football Scout. Joe is a fixture in the fantasy community, but he’s also known for his incredible FPL record, which features six top 10K overall rank finishes (including one top 1K finish), having never finished outside the top 100K during his twelve-year career. We asked Joe about his winning FPL st...

Next in our series of 2020–21 season preview episodes, we outline our Ten Tips for FPL Success. This is the fifth installment of our regular pre-season feature, so this year we’re applying a healthy amount of hindsight and experience to the chat. Of course, “success” in FPL can mean different things to different people, whether it’s achieving a great score or beating your mini-league rival or simp...

Our pre-season content continues with part two of our team-by-team FPL previews, featuring Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle, Sheffield United, Southampton, Spurs, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham, and Wolverhampton. What can we expect from each team's opening fixtures and how do we assess their key players and new and rumored signings? While this concludes our team-by-team co...

Our pre-season content continues with part one of our team-by-team FPL previews, featuring Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brighton, Burnley, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Leeds, and Leicester City. What can we expect from each team's opening fixtures and how do we assess their key players and new and rumored signings? Stay tuned for part two of our team-by-team previews coming in just a few day...

Oh my! The new FPL site has just launched for the 2020–21 season! While we still await the fixture announcements, on this episode, we offer up our first impressions and hot takes on the player prices, reclassified positions, and more. What team formation is immediately looking good? Is "big in the midfield" the new "big at the back?" Who are the heavy hitters, new players, and value picks that loo...

As we wait for the Fantasy Premier League site to relaunch, we take this moment to predict a handful of key player prices. From Ziyech and Werner to Mitrovic and Jiménez, along with the likes of Alexander-Arnold and De Bruyne, we discuss new signings, returning favorites, and those players who are ready to make that leap into the elite echelon of fantasy price tags. Stay tuned for much more pre-se...

If you find yourself with more time on your hands during the Premier League off-season, then let us present to you "Golden Goal: Stories of Soccer Legends," the new podcast narrated by Always Cheating's own Brandon Kelley. Blue Wire Studios has crafted this wholly original show that devotes each episode to one soccer/football legend and the moment that made them. From Messi to Zidane to Maradona t...

Heartbreak! Triumph! Chaos! The 2019–20 Premier League season has finally reached its conclusion, and with it one of the longest and most challenging FPL campaigns in memory. So, what lessons did we learn that might help fantasy mangers in the future? What did we make of all of the recent controversy surrounding leaked team sheets? And, looking ahead to next season, which players will be nailed in...

At last, the final gameweek of this long, strange Premier League season is upon us. So, what can we expect from GW38? We know that some teams will have nothing to play for, while others will have European football on the line. Will matches between Chelsea & Wolves and Leicester & Manchester United be tight, cagey affairs, or wide-open goal fests? With Brandon using his Free Hit chip, we also discu...

We're joined this week by the FPL Mayor, Tom Campbell , to discuss the season's remaining big questions. Who are the top captain picks for the final three gameweeks? Is there an optimal time to activate your Free Hit chip? How are we recalibrating our personal fantasy goals as this season finally comes to an end? Plus, we take a closer look at GW36+ and the optimal Free Hit squad and captaincy fav...

This weekend's Premier League fixtures wrap up with a Monday night match-up between Spurs and Everton, but then GW34+ immediately kicks off with three games on Tuesday. To help get FPL managers prepared for yet more fantasy football, we're taking a day-by-day look—from Tuesday to Wednesday to Thursday—at this midweek slate, debating all of the best transfer targets and captaincy favorites. Hail Ch...

As we make our way through the rest of GW32+, we take some time to look at the remaining fixtures for all twenty Premier League clubs. Based on what we've learned thus far from the league's restart, which teams are likely to be the best fantasy prospects? That is, which teams have players that FPL managers should to look to buy, sell, or hold? Plus, we preview the GW33+ match-ups and discuss our p...

We rejoice this week—it's the return of Premier League action! Nearing the end of GW30+ and this first round of fixtures, what have been the key FPL takeaways? Which teams and players impressed? Which were clearly abject and fantasy stay-aways? Tune in as we preview GW31+ and discuss some specific team issues, as well as highlights across each player position, from forward and midfielder to defend...

The Premier League restart is only a few days away and this episode focuses on the opening FPL fixtures, which happen to be a double gameweek. So, what are the best approaches for playing the double? Just how good, from the jump, do we expect Manchester City to be? Are Arsenal even worth the trouble? And in what ways can we mitigate the risk of inevitable team rotation? We delve into some chip the...

In anticipation of the June 17 restart, this week we're checking in on all twenty Premier League clubs. Among them, who has the most to play for? How do their remaining fixtures look? Have any of their key players recently returned from injury? As we discuss the teams, we zero in on the top performers and differentials that will fit into our updated fantasy line-ups. Hail Cheaters! Presented by Be...

The Premier League is returning to action on June 17, and it's also been confirmed that FPL is along for the ride! To help get us back into the fantasy mindset, this week we're asking ten unique questions about what we can expect from a rebooted season: How do the opening fixtures look and what are the implications of a double game-week kicking things off? Have we given more thought to the prospec...

While the German Bundesliga entered its second match-week back from quarantine, the big news this week was Premier League clubs finally returning to small team training. What does this mean for FPL? And what are our expectations for how the rest of this season, behind closed doors, will unfold? Plus, we check in on our Fantasy Bundesliga scores and answer listener questions on Virtual FPL and spor...

Germany’s Bundesliga returned to action this weekend, spurring many football fans around the world to tune in for their first glimpse of live sports in months. So, did Borussia Dortmund vs Schalke 04 or Eintracht Frankfurt vs Mönchengladbach deliver on the excitement we craved? Was it strange watching football broadcast from empty stadiums? And how was our first experience with Germany's fantasy g...

It looks as though Germany’s Bundesliga will be the first major European league to return to action when their 2019–20 season resumes on May 16. In anticipation of next weekend’s action, we’re dedicating this episode to getting to know some of the teams, players, and stories currently dominating the German top division. We discuss everything from Robert Lewandowski and the modern Bayern Munich dyn...

Without any concrete news to report from the Premier League and FPL, we’ve turned to our listeners for topics. In this week’s “mailbag” episode, we answer questions about the state of football in quarantine. How can this season be salvaged? Will FPL ever come back? And, well, here’s an easy one: How do we define money and measure the cost of late-stage capitalism? Plus, in the most cheerful way po...

Sure, the Premier League and FPL have all but vanished. But what else do we miss? From the solitude of a morning commute and the taste of movie theater popcorn to that tactile, emotional feeling of hugging your friends, in this episode of Always Cheating we're drafting our favorite little things that we never knew we'd struggle to live without. Hail Cheaters! Please consider supporting our beloved...