The game has been launched for a few weeks now and, if you’re anything like me, you’ll be on draft #645 by now. While the players in my team have been rapidly changing, my formation has also been in a constant state of flux! Do we want to max out on those generously priced premium defenders? Squeeze in as many premiums as possible at the cost of team balance? Let’s have a look at the most popular formations doing the rounds at the moment:

Big at the back (5 premium defenders)

I whacked this one at the top of the post because it’s arguably the most popular right now. Given the rise of the wingback position and it’s impact on FPL in recent seasons, it would appear that FPL Towers have been very generous with their pricing of the premium defenders.

The appeal of this formation is pretty obvious. Five premium defenders and Salah AND a premium forward AAAAND an 8m mid AAAAAAAAAND Jesus?! Talk about having your cake and eating it!

The only thing to be wary of with this formation is that we don’t know how the new five sub rule is going to affect the minutes of these notoriously sweaty wingbacks. Don’t be surprised to see some heartbreaking pre-60th minute subs. While the appeal of these defenders does lie with their willingness to get forward, the potential snatching of clean sheets does lower their ceiling a bit.

Personally, I also find big at the back a bit safe. I would rather try and catch the form of the plethora of value mids without having to use extra transfers to change my team structure.

Threemium (with Son)

Because two premium attackers just isn’t enough for some people! At the time of writing, Salah and Haaland’s ownerships are sitting at 58.1% and 61.9% respectively. It’s probably fair to say that most threemium teams will feature both of these players, but what if you want to squeeze a premium Spurs attacker in there as well?

We start with the Son threemium, which I find hard to recommend. Son is obviously a monster and is almost certainly due another massive year now that Conte has had a chance to work his magic at Spurs.

Unfortunately, it leaves the rest of your team in a bit of a sorry state. You’ll have to make some compromises with your premium defenders, fill the rest of your midfield with < 6m options and start a super budget forward alongside Haaland. If you get off to a slow start and want to hop on some bandwagons, it’s going to take a few transfers to restructure your team

Threemium (with Kane)

Deciding between Haaland and Kane for GW1 is bound to give some managers some sleepless nights. Sidestepping that dilemma entirely and starting with both is undoubtedly an appealing prospect, but this threemium draft suffers with the same issues as the Son variant. You could downgrade your defence a bit to squeeze in an 8m mid, but you’ll be leaving your team balance a bit wonky whatever you do. Not to mention that forwards get the short end of the stick when it comes to fantasy points. Less points per goal, no clean sheet point and a tougher time accumulating bonus points means premium mids are likely to be far better value for money.

Another downside with any threemium draft is that the majority of their value comes from captaincy. Having two non-captained expensive players on your team will feel bad enough, but what if one of them blanks? Do you want to rely on your 6m mids to keep you out of the mud?

Balanced 4-4-2

Fabio Capello, eat your heart out! There is no denying the team balance you can achieve with this oft mocked formation. A decent defence, two 8m mids, two premiums and (everyone’s favorite bandwagon) Jesus. I believe that owning the right 8m mid at the right time is going to make or break seasons. Hedging your bets with two of them sounds like a reasonable plan!

I’m currently leaning towards the 4-4-2 formation, with Saka and Maddison as my 8m mids of choice. Let’s be honest though…I’ll change my team another 274 times before the season starts.

My final piece of advice would be that whichever formation you choose, try your best to leave 0.5m in the bank. A 0.1m price rise is effectively a 0.5m price rise in the first couple of game weeks, so don’t get stuck watching those early bandwagons roll off into the sunset without you!