Always Cheating: A Fantasy Premier League Podcast

As we return from the international break and prepare for GW9, Fantasy Premier League managers now have the perfect moment to hit the reset button. Whether it’s a change in attitude or a shift in strategy, we need to leave the first eight week’s of this season behind and start with a blank slate and positive outlook. Josh and Brandon start this week’s episode discussing how we can achieve that aim...

As we enter the Premier League's second international break of the season, the Cheaters review gameweeks 1–8 through the lens of each week's dream team. That's right—it's once again time for the Kings of the Gameweek. What lessons can we learn and what patterns can we discern from the teams, players, and positions that appear in the FPL site's often overlooked feature? We also discuss our scores f...

This weekend, Ollie Watkins defied the expectations of most FPL managers with his extraordinary 23-point haul against Brighton. That season-defining performance has inspired the Cheaters on this week's episode to look at some of the biggest fantasy picks in the game—from Salah and Son to even Erling Haaland—and reassess whether each of them is currently overrated, underrated, or properly rated by...

The recent GW6 had some major highs and lows for fantasy managers and Josh and Brandon represent both sides of that coin. And after we break down our learnings from the weekend, it's on to GW7 and this season's first double gameweek featuring Burnley and Luton Town. Those aren't the most enticing clubs to tie your FPL fortunes to, but this episode really is all about the pros and cons of pursuing...

It's been a frustratingly low-scoring GW5, but the weekend's standout storyline has been the woeful form of clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea. While those teams continue to look for a way into this Premier League season, fantasy mangers have lost all patience—notably with Nicolas Jackson, Ben Chilwell, Bruno Fernandes, and a few others. Of those players, who are we prepared to fully turn ou...

The season's first international break concludes on Tuesday and thus far it's been fairly uneventful. But will things stay that way? And how will GW5 be impacted? With a rocky start in FPL, Josh is already planning his first wildcard and in this episode the Cheaters debate which Premier League players have stood out, have great fixtures on the horizon, and have hopefully not traveled too far with...

The results of GW4 have sent fantasy managers into the international break with a lot to think about. While some of us will feel smug and full-up on points from the likes of Alvarez, Mbeumo, and Maddison, others will be panicking and weighing the benefits of an early wildcard. With Josh away, special guest co-host Sam Danby Bailey joins Brandon to search for clues in the season's first four weeks...

This weekend's matches proved to be the first big stress test on our fantasy squads and the FPL template of highly-owned, highly-agreed-upon assets. So what's next? Is Raheem Sterling really going to take the game by storm? Can we trust the West Ham attack to remain this potent? What happened to Brentford and Brighton on Saturday? And which of the stock Manchester United and Arsenal midfielders wo...

This weekend's GW2 action saw banter-level fantasy blanks for key players like Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, and Nicolas Jackson while other pre-season darlings like Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo continued to score points—not to mention the "we knew they had it in them" guys like Luis Diaz and Solly March who have started this new season in incredible form. How do we manage to overlook the pote...

This season's opening weekend presented a wide range of fantasy outcomes, but some teams and players proved easier to predict than others. On this week's episode, the Cheaters discuss what stood out in GW1 and how it changes the calculus as we look ahead to GW2 and beyond. We also rate the plethora of midfielder options still vying for our attention and consider updating our goalkeeper strategies....

The 2023/24 Premier League season kicks off this Friday and we got our first taste of what's to come with Sunday's Community Shield clash between Manchester City and Arsenal, which saw the Gunners emerge victorious. The Cheaters react to the result and give their impressions of performances from notable players like Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Bukayo Sake, and even Kai Havertz. Did anything fr...

In this special bonus pod, special guest Elevenify (https://elevenify.substack.com) joins to discuss data-driven strategies for the new Fantasy Premier League season. All of this week's podcast questions came exclusively from Always Cheating's Patreon supporters—visit patreon.com/alwayscheating to support the pod! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In our third and final FPL player preview ahead of the 2023/24 Premier League season, we take a closer look at the top defender and goalkeeper options and discuss where they each rank in terms of fantasy point floors and ceilings, injury and rotation risk, surrounding squad quality, and that all-important fun quotient. Always Cheating is trying something new this pre-season by working with our ver...

In our second of three FPL player previews, we take a closer look at the top midfielder options and discuss where they each rank in terms of fantasy point floors and ceilings, injury and rotation risk, surrounding squad quality, and that all-important fun quotient. Always Cheating is trying something new this pre-season by working with our very own "data" model for FPL player picks, weighing facto...

This pre-season, we're trying something new at Always Cheating headquarters: We built a "data" model for FPL player picks. But what sets our model apart from the competition is we're weighing factors that have historically been uniquely important to our listeners—like, say, is a player fun to own in fantasy? In our first of three player preview episodes, we take a closer look at the top forward op...

We're now four weeks out from the start of the new Premier League season and, with it, the GW1 FPL deadline. At this point, the fantasy deadline feels like it's at once right around the corner and a lifetime away. So, where's the best place for us to put our focus now? Brandon and guest co-host Dave Weigner-Lodahl tackle six big questions that remain unanswered in the pre-season, including preferr...

Join Josh and Brandon as they debut their 'FPL After Dark' show for YouTube Live and reminisce about the 2013/14 Premier League season. Join Fantasy Football Hub this season with 50% your membership at any tier using this link: https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/always Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The FPL site is officially live for the new 2023/24 Premier League season, meaning it's suddenly time to log in and get down to the business of winning our mini leagues and finishing with a high overall rank. In this episode, we're getting listeners up to speed with some early transfer deals, fantasy position reclassifications, and the controversial new player pricing within the fantasy game. Then...

GW38 started with a raft of lineup leaks—some more trustworthy than others—that set the tone for a wild final match-day of the 2022–23 fantasy season. If the decision point was a Salah versus Kane captaincy, we know how that went. But there were countless other ways to cut this gameweek; from a De Gea penalty save or an Alvarez blank to a Gabriel Jesus punt. In this episode, the Cheaters reflect o...

We're still waiting for the final matches of GW37 to conclude, but it's not too early for the Cheaters to strategize for the FPL season's grand finale of GW38. In this episode we set up the Premier League stakes for all twenty clubs (spoiler: there aren't many) and then dig into the best approaches depending on where fantasy managers are and want to be. Picking the right—or differential—captain wi...

FPL managers got yet another dose of 'The Truth' when Callum Wilson opened the GW36 scoring with a brace and full bonus. Pair that with a Pervis Estupiñán haul and you're flying—but the Cheaters are still waiting for their Isak ship to come in. Will it? As the rest of this gameweek plays out, we look ahead to the final double of this season staring Manchester City, Manchester United, Brighton, and...

Very little in GW35 went as predicted, from the Haaland blank to virtually every single moment in Monday’s fixtures. So, what are the key FPL takeaways as we now plan for the double in GW36 featuring both Newcastle and Brighton? Solly March looks to be latest victim of the Premier League injury bug and Josh and Brandon discuss every possible option for replacing him in our fantasy squads. Plus, we...

There's still a whole lot of GW34 to go, including doubles for numerous clubs. Josh and Brandon check in on their FPL squads—including Brandon's active Bench Boost—and discuss the weekend's Premier League highlights and lowlights. While we wait for the midweek fixtures to happen, this episode is the perfect moment to fully digest the fantasy season's remaining gameweeks and formulate a winning str...

The Free Hit chip was mostly a success in GW32, a week that gave us some freak Premier League results and wild storylines. As we digest those performances, we must quickly turn our attention to the GW33 deadline coming this Tuesday. In this episode, the Cheaters look at their own FPL squads and talk through transfer dilemmas and captaincy picks and then run through the top questions for midweek fa...

With key teams Manchester City, Manchester United, Brighton, and Chelsea all blanking in GW32, the next fantasy deadline will require some very tricky decisions. For some managers, the Free Hit chip will be crucial and in this episode the Cheaters look at what the best options are for an optimal one-week squad. Liverpool takes center stage both for Free Hit and managers and non-chip managers alike...