Always Cheating: A Fantasy Premier League Podcast

With GW3 behind us, and an international break ahead, is now the right time to play a wildcard and reset your FPL fortunes? Josh and Brandon look at the pros and cons of triggering the powerful wildcard button, debating whether it's too early in the season or conversely the perfect opportunity to get out ahead of the competition by bringing in exciting new options in Lukaku and Ronaldo. Manchester...

So early into a new FPL season, it's very difficult to say what any of us know for sure. What we can identify, though, are things that we think—or at least think we think—about certain clubs, players, and fantasy strategies. This week, we're debating the options among cheap defenders and Tsimikas replacements. We also wax lyrical about Chelsea's deep squad and the awe-inducing reintroduction of Ro...

This season's opening fantasy gameweek saw some standout performances and big scores, especially from popular picks Mohamed Salah and Bruno Fernandes. What does this mean for those maverick FPL managers who attempted to go against the grain? Looking ahead to our GW2 squad selections and captaincy picks, we review last weekend's notable over-performers, under-performers, and players and clubs that...

There's less than one week to prepare for the start of the new FPL season and we still have a number of unanswered questions. Join Josh and Brandon as they discuss their final team selection dilemmas—which positions and players are locks and where will there be some last-minute GW1 deadline decisions? We also look at how recent transfers—like Grealish to Manchester City, Ings to Aston Villa, and L...

The trickiest position to fill at the start of this FPL season could very well be the forwards, mostly due to the large pool of very qualified candidates. So, before a ball is kicked, what's the best way for us to determine which strikers have the best potential? This week, Josh and Brandon break all of the options into three categories, based on price, and then compare the data and statistics for...

Instead of the usual team-by-team previews in alphabetical order, this season we're trying something new by predicting the Premier League table and discussing each team's FPL prospects as we go. Which clubs have we predicted to finish in the Champions League positions? And which ones have those "must own" fantasy assets? In part two of two, we look at who we believe will comprise the top half of t...

Instead of the usual team-by-team previews in alphabetical order, this season we're trying something new by predicting the Premier League table and discussing each team's FPL prospects as we go. Which clubs have we predicted to go down? And which ones might surprise us with marginal fantasy value? In part one of two, we look at who we believe will comprise the bottom half of the table, spots 20 to...

What will it take to win the Fantasy Premier League this season? How can you more easily hit your goals or beat your mini league rivals? And, perhaps most importantly, what does it mean to simply enjoy the upcoming 38 gameweeks? In this pre-season episode, we welcome friend-of-the-podcast Eric Freeman to outline our best tips for FPL success and making the fantasy experience more fun and rewarding...

Each season, three new clubs join the top division and they can often be the hardest to predict in terms of FPL value. So, in this week's show, Josh and Brandon are taking a closer look at Norwich City, Watford, and Brentford and discuss their potential impact on the 2021–22 Premier League season. Who are the standout attacking players? Are there any intriguing new signings? How do we expect each...

And, just like that, a new fantasy season has arrived. The FPL site relaunched for 2021/22 on Tuesday of this week, amidst the noise of the European Championship, but it didn't go unnoticed among the fantasy faithful. Josh and Brandon return to their podcasting chairs to discuss the new player prices, position reclassifications, and fixture difficulty ratings, as well as their own strategies for t...

Josh and Brandon hop on Spotify Greenroom this week to chat with listeners about this weekend's sudden FPL player price reveals, from Kane and Son to the entire rosters of Liverpool and Leeds. Of course, some key teams and players—notably Manchester City and Chelsea—are yet to be revealed, but there is still much to discuss as the new FPL season is seemingly already underway. So which player price...

Josh and Brandon hop on Locker Room this week to chat with listeners about the European Championship and debate key takeaways from the tournament's first weekend. We discuss the horrifying scenes surrounding Christian Eriksen and the intensity of athletes living out the such nightmares on a globally televised stage. We also get into performance ratings of of standout teams including England, Italy...

Josh and Brandon hop on Locker Room this week to chat with listeners about the CONCACAF Nations League Final between the U.S. and Mexico. How are we feeling at the moment about Gregg Berhalter's talented young squad now with a fair amount of European experience? Plus, we get into some of the Premier League off-season gossip, including transfer rumors and promoted club prospects. Join us each week...

Chelsea are crowned European champions after Thomas Tuchel again out-smarts Pep Guardiola. The Cheaters Josh and Brandon take to the Locker Room app to discuss their thoughts on an engaging Champions League final and also get reactions from listeners. Did Pep predictably overthink his tactics? Just how good was Mason Mount's assist on Kai Havertz's match-winning goal? And what does this final tell...

The 2020–21 season was difficult for many reasons, but it was also filled with moments that reflected the Always Cheating mantra of 'Make Fantasy Fun Again.' Now that this campaign is finally behind us, this episode is dedicated to reflecting on what went right, what went wrong, and what takeaways there out that can help us once the next Premier League race kicks off. Thank you to everyone who has...

We're nearly at the end of one of the wildest FPL seasons in recent memory, but the job isn't done yet. This episode, Josh and Brandon are looking ahead to the final two gameweeks and debating the strategies for either holding your ground or moving up the ranks. We try to make sense of squad rotation for Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea ahead of their major European finals—if, indee...

We're only just midway through the massive GW35, so this week we check in on how our FPL squads have faired and if any performances have caught our eye. The Cheaters then look ahead to a tricky GW36 in which four key teams have blanks fixtures. Namely among Liverpool and Spurs, we debate the standout transfer strategies and captaincy options. Finally, in our continuing mission this season to "Make...

This week we take in the dramatic scenes from Old Trafford and then consider the implications on the upcoming Fantasy Premier League calendar. It looks possible that Liverpool could end up with a double gameweek in GW35, which opens up a new world of possibilities with our FPL squad management. So, as we strategize for the coming weekend, we weigh the benefits of loading up on more Manchester Unit...

As news of the European Super League dries up, Josh and Brandon have to refocus on their FPL goals for the remainder of the season. First up, what have the hosts learned from their respective GW33 wildcards? There were some definite ups and downs this week with wildcard darlings like Alexander-Arnold and Romain Saïss, while Chris Wood ran away with all the glory. How can fantasy managers legislate...

This weekend's football offered a mix of Premier League and FA Cup action, but all of the sports oxygen was immediately consumed by the surprise announcement of the new European Super League, which will potently involve (or fully absorb) six English clubs. We devote this entire episode to a sprawling discussion and debate of the implications of the new league and what it means for both FPL and dom...

In FPL, sometimes you get it right. Other weeks, well, you simply get it all wrong—from your transfers, to your captains, and then your bench spots. If getting your fantasy decisions wrong is an inevitability, what's the most productive way of shaking it off? Josh and Brandon discuss where their GW31 went wrong (and, in some places, went right) and what that means for their next moves. Is a wildca...

Heading into GW31, many FPL managers are wondering whether it's too early to wildcard, too late to make a maverick move, or just too confusing to navigate around the maze of fixture blanks and doubles. So, what do the Cheaters think? Josh and Brandon touch upon their own plans for an end-of-season wildcard and which teams and players will be key in triggering that decision. Is Chelsea's defense wo...

Nine gameweeks remain, so in this episode we're tackling nine key questions on preparing for the FPL season's final stretch. Among those dilemmas are: Which teams have the easiest or most difficult fixture run-ins? What do we know about the remaining blank and double gameweeks? Which premium assets most demand our attention? Will Liverpool and Mo Salah reemerge as options? And which players have w...

The final international break of this Premier League season is here to provide some much-needed distance from what has been a brutal and exhausting run of gameweeks. So, as we briefly step away from the nonstop strategizing and transfer planning, this episode is the perfect moment to reassess what we actually know to be true about the 2020–2021 fantasy season, and how we can use that knowledge to...

Some FPL gameweeks are defined by players who blank points, but GW29 is defined by teams that blank fixtures. The upcoming slate features just eight teams and four matches, which will make it incredibly difficult to put together both a competitive and a full squad. In this week's episode, Josh and Brandon prepare their own teams and debate strategies for managers who are in various other situation...