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 which players you want to target in each area.

£100m might seem like a lot of money to spend when they are only a handful of players worth over £10.0m in the game – but you're going to have to pick substitutes, too. Not that your subs get you any points.

So what's the point in substitutes? Let us explain.

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 happens). In that circumstance, one of your substitutes will automatically be brought in, allowing you to still accumulate points.

For example, let's say your goalkeepers are Ederson and Bart Verbruggen. Ederson gets injured during the warm-up: but you can’t swap him out because the deadline has passed. Don’t worry though. Verbruggen 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 that week, maintaining your team's formation. So, if you have three defenders, a defender will replace another defender.

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

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

Keep in mind that substitutions are processed at the end of gameweeks, 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!