I won FPL last season - here are my five best tips
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- Erik Ibsen, a 23-year-old Danish medical student and Everton fan, finished first overall among 11 million Fantasy Premier League players last season despite never having played before, telling BBC Sport his inexperience was "1,000%" an advantage because he avoided paid tipster services and influencers.
- Ibsen said he was ranked eight millionth after week one but climbed to the top by staying patient, while the runner-up started in the top 100 — underscoring his advice to plan three to five gameweeks ahead rather than react to a single bad week.
- Ibsen built value across his entire squad using budget "enablers" like Brighton's Pascal Gross (£5.5m, who takes penalties, free-kicks, and corners) and prioritized defensive contribution (defcon) points, saying he "never had a terrible week" because of those steady returns.
- Erling Haaland remains a must-pick in Ibsen's view despite being the most expensive FPL player ever at £15.5m, with Ibsen arguing a squad including Haaland, Florian Wirtz, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Joao Pedro is still achievable because everyone else is "so cheap."
- Ibsen recommends hoarding up to five transfers for a "mini-wildcard" swing, having moved just two or three players most weeks last season to enable fixture-targeted rotations like tripling up on Chelsea for back-to-back favorable matches.
- Ibsen warned against letting club loyalty dictate picks, using Everton's Thierno Barry — who shares minutes with Beto — as an example of an avoidable trap, and tipped Tottenham's ~£5m-per-player defence plus Liverpool's attack under new manager Andoni Iraola as this season's value plays.
Why it matters: For the millions restarting FPL, Ibsen's counterintuitive lesson is that early-season panic costs managers more than any squad decision — he was 8 millionth after week one and still won. With nine Premier League clubs debuting permanent managers on opening weekend, the highest number ever, Ibsen called this "the most difficult to predict" season, making his patience-over-reaction playbook especially useful for newcomers who don't want to pay for tipster services.
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