Fantasy Premier League: What are substitutes used for in FPL?

So you've signed up to play Fantasy Premier League. You've got your FPL team name, and you've worked out the players you wish to use.

£100m might seem like a lot of money to spend when there are only a handful of players worth over £10.0m in the game – but you're going to have to pick substitutes, too. Remember, your substitutes do not earn you any points again in the 2025/26 edition.

So what's the point of substitutes? Let us detail the reasons why...

FPL: How substitutes are used for in Fantasy Premier League

There’s always a chance that one of your starting XI might not play – whether that's due to an injury, suspension, or a match being postponed for unforeseen reasons (it sometimes happens). In the event one of those does happen, one of your substitutes will automatically be brought in, allowing you to still accumulate points.

For example, let's say your goalkeepers are Andre Onana and Emi Martinez. Onana gets injured during the warm-up, but you can’t swap him out because the deadline has passed. Martinez will play that weekend and earn you points instead.

If an outfield player misses a match, they’ll be replaced by the highest-priority substitute who played in that same week, keeping hold of your team's existing formation. So, if you have three defenders, one defender will replace another.

Another advantage of having a bench is the flexibility it offers to tweak your team before a match. That's right: like real-life football, it can also be seen as tactical.

For instance, if you have Chris Wood, who is up against a team in the relegation places, and Erling Haaland facing Liverpool in a top-of-the-table clash, you might decide to bench the higher-valued player in Haaland, in favour of Wood. After all, one of them has a harder job than the other.

Keep in mind that substitutions are processed at the end of every gameweek, so your adjustments won’t be reflected immediately.

More Fantasy Premier League stories

You can play Fantasy Premier League online on the Premier League website, or on the Premier League app, which is available on iOS and Android. Still missing something? Here's everything you need to know about FPL, including FourFourTwo's guides on the game. Enjoy!