FPL plus three games

• FPL (blue) — your Fantasy Premier League squad, all season. Pitchline helps with captains, transfers, chips, and live points; your real squad stays on the official FPL site. Find it under FPL in the menu.
• Last Fan Standing (gold) — a separate game, not part of FPL. Pick one club to win each gameweek, and survive as long as you can. Pools run here on Pitchline with friends and the Heroes. Find it under Last Fan Standing in the menu, or on the Pools tab in Leagues.
• Six (green) — a weekly score predictor, also separate from FPL. Predict the score in six Premier League matches each gameweek and play in private leagues or the public Beat the Heroes league. Scorers, Season picks, Captain Call, Five-a-Side, and league knockout cups live here too. Find it under Six in the menu.
• Puzzles (violet) — four daily puzzles: Guess the player in eight tries, Higher or Lower (ten player pairs where one wrong answer ends the run), Pitch Grid, and Career Path. Find them under Puzzles in the menu, or all on the Puzzles page.

Switch between them with the FPL / Last Fan Standing / Six / Puzzles switcher at the top of every page. All four share the same fixtures, clubs, and account, and the Heroes play every game.

Signed in, the Pitchline logo opens your dashboard: the next deadline with a countdown, everything still waiting on you across the games, and a card for each one. The FPL tools — Live, Advice, Planner, Leagues and the rest — are on the FPL page.

What Fantasy is

Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is a free game alongside the real Premier League. You pick a squad of footballers within a budget. When they do well in real matches, you score Fantasy points. Your weekly totals add up over the season — that’s your progress.

Why it matters: every gameweek is a small swing in a long race. One bad week rarely ruins a season; repeating the same mistakes (missed deadlines, blind hits, captains you don’t believe in) does.

On Pitchline: rankings, fixtures, and tips to lean on while you learn. They don’t replace the official FPL site, where your real squad lives.

Your squad

• 15 players: 2 goalkeepers, 5 defenders, 5 midfielders, 3 forwards
• Budget: about £100m across the whole squad
• Club limit: at most 3 players from the same club

Prices rise and fall during the season. Money you spend early is money you don’t have later; three from one club blocks a fourth option from that side.

Why it matters: squad building is a set of trade-offs. A shiny expensive midfielder might mean a weaker bench — and when injuries hit, weak depth costs points.

On Pitchline: use player rankings (filter by position and price) or compare a few names side by side. Weigh the options — don’t treat the top of a list as “must buy.”

Starting XI & bench

Each gameweek you pick 11 starters and 4 on the bench. Only the XI (plus automatic substitutes if someone doesn’t play) score for you that week. Bench order matters for those auto-subs.

Why it matters: a player who hauls on your bench is points you left on the table. Progress isn’t only transfers — it’s also who you actually field.

On Pitchline: if you’ve linked your team, Advice may suggest lineup tweaks. Treat them as prompts to double-check minutes and fixtures — then set the XI on the official site.

How you score

Players earn Fantasy points for things like goals, assists, clean sheets (especially defenders and keepers), and bonus points after the match. Attackers lean on goals and assists; defenders lean on clean sheets plus the odd attacking return. Every number, position by position, is in How the FPL Points Work.

Why it matters: if you don’t know how a position usually scores, it’s easy to overrate a “hot” name who doesn’t fit how points are actually made. Understanding scoring helps you challenge any tip — including Pitchline’s.

On Pitchline: Metrics explained covers Form, expected involvements, Exp. pts, Pitchline score, and fixture difficulty in plain English. Use those labels as questions (“is this form or luck?”), not as orders.

Captain & vice-captain

Your captain scores double points. Your vice-captain only takes over if the captain doesn’t play. For most managers, the armband is the biggest weekly decision.

Why it matters: one bad captain can cost more than a transfer hit; one good one can leap you up the mini-league table. Blindly copying a lean without checking minutes or kickoff can erase a week of careful transfers.

On Pitchline: Captains shows who Pitchline would give the armband over the next 5 fixtures, among likely starters — hints to weigh, then confirm the armband on FPL.

Transfers & hits

You usually get free transfers each week. Extra transfers cost −4 points each (a “hit”). Hits spend points you don’t get back.

Why it matters: chasing every shiny tip with hits can drop your rank even when the new player “works out.” Sometimes holding is progress — patience protects your total while others bleed −4s.

On Pitchline: Advice and the Planner may show transfer ideas; your watchlist (when signed in) keeps names you’re tracking. Ask “is this worth −4?” before you act on the official site.

Chips

You get two sets of four chips: one for the first half of the season (it expires at the Gameweek 19 deadline) and one for the second. Only one chip can be played per gameweek.

• Wildcard — unlimited free transfers for one gameweek; the changes stay
• Free Hit — unlimited free transfers for one week, then your squad reverts
• Triple Captain — captain scores triple instead of double
• Bench Boost — bench players score that week too

How the FPL Chips Work covers the rules and when each chip is worth playing.

Why it matters: chips are limited season resources. Burning one early changes what you can do later. Using one because an app “suggested it” without a plan can cost you a bigger opportunity weeks down the line.

On Pitchline: the Planner shows your remaining chips and the next window when there is one, and Advice mentions a chip only when it’s worth playing this gameweek. That’s a nudge to think — not a calendar you must follow.

Deadlines

Changes lock at the deadline (usually before the first match of the gameweek). After that, your squad is set until the next deadline.

Why it matters: miss the deadline and last week’s XI rides again — progress stalls by default while others tweak. Most “I forgot” weeks are self-inflicted.

On Pitchline: optional deadline reminder emails (~1–1.5 days before) can remind you with captain/transfer suggestions and anything still to do in the games, with a last call a few hours out if a game pick is missing. Turn them off anytime. Still make the real changes on FPL.

Fixtures & difficulty

Some weeks look kinder than others. Fantasy rates matches with fixture difficulty (1 easier → 5 harder). Looking a few fixtures ahead helps with holds, sells, and captain choices.

Why it matters: a tough run can drag several of your players at once; a kinder run can lift a whole club. Fixture planning is how casual managers avoid panicking into points hits after one quiet week.

On Pitchline: open the fixtures ticker for every club’s remaining run at a glance, Clubs for a side’s next matches and avg difficulty, or a player page for their upcoming run. Labels have tooltips; Metrics explains difficulty and outlook.

Price changes

Fantasy updates player prices around 00:00 UK once the season is live. Progress toward the next £0.1m rise or fall is published as a public percent — over 100% means a change is expected at the next update (late transfers can still reverse it).

On Pitchline: open Prices for who might rise or fall, or a player page when progress is moving. Prices stay locked until after the Gameweek 1 deadline. Selling prices and timing your transfers around changes are in How the FPL Prices Work.

Ownership

Overall Owned % from Fantasy’s public selected-by figure tells you who sits in most squads versus who is still under the radar. Net transfers this week show who is being bought or sold — useful context before you chase or dump.

On Pitchline: open Ownership for most-owned and less-owned lists, this week’s buys and sells, and high-owned MID/FWD captain options. This is overall ownership, not an elite-rank sample.

Underlying (expected goals)

Goals and assists alone can mislead — chance quality matters. Fantasy publishes season expected goals (xG), expected assists (xA), and expected goal involvements (xGI). Per-90 rates level the minutes playing field; goals/assists vs expected show who is over- or under-performing those chances.

On Pitchline: open Expected goals for a filterable underlying table. Figures come from Fantasy’s public bootstrap — not a third-party Opta or Understat feed.

Planner

Advice is what to do before this deadline — captain, start/sit, this week’s transfer, and whether the bench is deep enough to skip or set up a chip. Pitchline’s planner looks 5 gameweeks ahead for your linked squad: bench readiness, fixture swings (blanks and doubles), staged same-position transfers (including cheap bench builds before Bench Boost or Free Hit), and chip windows.

Pitchline cannot see your free-transfer count. Always confirm on FPL before you act. Hits still have to clear a high bar; the planner will not spend a chip and a transfer in the same week.

Live matchday

Once fixtures kick off, Live shows provisional week points for your linked squad — captain/vice-captain multipliers, soft automatic bench-swap estimates, bonus race leaders, and whether bonus is still provisional. Players whose match hasn’t kicked off show their opponent (for example “LEE (H)”) instead of a score, so a 0 only ever means he played and blanked.

Overall rank on that page is the last figure FPL published, not a true in-play update. Refresh after big swings; Pitchline caches live data briefly so the official API isn’t hammered.

Last Fan Standing: how it works

Last Fan Standing is a survivor game, separate from FPL. Each gameweek you pick one Premier League club to win. A win keeps you in; a loss (and, unless your pool says otherwise, a draw) knocks you out. You can’t pick the same club again until you’ve used all twenty. Last one standing wins.

Why it matters: the obvious pick this week might be the club you need in a month. Surviving is as much about saving strong clubs as about spending them.

Pools & rules

Start a private pool and share the invite code, or join a friend’s. Picks lock at the FPL deadline and stay hidden until then. Results settle from Premier League scores. A double gameweek counts your club’s first match; a postponed match counts as a survive. If everyone left goes out in the same week, they all stay in.

On Pitchline: your pools show on the dashboard and under the Pools tab in Leagues. Clark, Diana, and Peter can join your pool and pick in character.

Hints & planner

Each club gets a win chance from a goals model built on Fantasy club strength, this season’s scores, and expected goals. The planner looks six gameweeks ahead and flags when a strong club is better saved for an easier fixture. Club pages show this week’s chance too.

Hints only — upsets happen. Metrics explains each column.

Six: how it works

Six is a score predictor. Each gameweek Pitchline picks the six closest-looking Premier League matches — the same six for everyone — and you predict the score in each before the FPL deadline. An exact score is worth 5 points; the right result (home win, draw, or away win) is worth 2. A blank scores nothing, and a postponed match scores nothing for anyone.

Predictions stay hidden until the deadline, then everyone’s revealed. Scores settle from Premier League results. The top score wins the week (ties split on exact scores) and the most points wins the season. All six exact is a perfect six.

Double-up. Each week you can put your double-up on one of the six. That match scores double — 10 for the exact score, 4 for the right result. It’s optional, and you can move it until the deadline. The prediction form points out the safest double-up: the match where the model is surest of the result.

Beat the Heroes

Beat the Heroes is a public Six league anyone can join. Clark, Diana, and Peter predict every week; the challenge is to finish the season ahead of all three. It’s scored like any Six league, and you predict for it separately from your private leagues.

Scorers

Scorers is a weekly anytime-scorer game. Back up to five outfield players before the deadline; each one who scores earns a point. Goals are the tiebreak. A player whose club doesn’t play that week doesn’t count. Picks stay hidden until the deadline. One public table for the whole season, Heroes included.

On Pitchline: the page lists this week’s likeliest scorers — each player’s share of his club’s expected goals, times how many goals the club is expected to score this week — with a chance to score for each. Hints only.

Season picks

Season picks: name the champions, top four, three relegated clubs, and the top scorer. 10 points for the champions, 3 for each top-four and relegated club you get right, 5 if your top scorer finishes joint top — 36 at most. Change your picks until the GW19 deadline; points move with the live table until the season ends.

On Pitchline: next to the table as it stands, a projection adds the expected points from every match left, plus a projected top scorer. Hints only.

Captain Call

Captain Call: pick one captain each gameweek before the deadline. He scores double his Fantasy points that week, bonus included. You can change him until the deadline; his club has to play that week. Picks stay hidden until the deadline, then show with live points until FPL finalises the week. One public table for the season, with Clark, Diana, and Peter picking too.

On Pitchline: the page lists this week’s biggest threats — each player’s share of his club’s expected goals and assists, times what the club is expected to create this week. Hints only.

Five-a-Side

Five-a-Side: pick five players each gameweek — one goalkeeper and at least one defender, one midfielder, and one forward — within a £35.0m budget, with at most two from one club. Your score is the five’s Fantasy points added up. Pick a new five every week; teams stay hidden until the deadline.

There’s one public table for the season, Heroes included. You can also start a private Five-a-Side league and share its invite code; it shows the same weeks, just for your friends.

Leagues & stakes

Start a private league and share the invite code, or join a friend’s. Friends can join any time; late joiners start on zero. Clark, Diana, and Peter can play too, each predicting in character from the same goals model.

Stakes are up to you. A league owner can add a short note on what’s at stake — who buys the next round, say. Pitchline doesn’t hold, collect or pay out money or prizes. Anything at stake is agreed between members.

Knockout Cup

The owner of a private Six league can start a knockout cup from the league page. Everyone is seeded by the league table at that point, and round one is the next open gameweek, one round a week after that. Each tie is decided by that gameweek’s Six points, then exact scores, then the better seed. When the numbers don’t make a full bracket, the top seeds get a bye. Nothing extra to predict: the cup runs on your normal Six predictions.

Puzzles

Four daily puzzles, all on the Puzzles page: Guess the player, Higher or Lower, Pitch Grid, and Career Path. Each is the same for everyone, takes a few minutes, and a new one starts every day at midnight UTC. Guests can play; sign in to keep a streak for each. Guess the player and Higher or Lower also have a Today / Practice toggle at the top of the game for unlimited rounds that never touch your streak.

Guess the player

Guess the player: one mystery Premier League player a day, eight guesses. After each guess you see the player’s club, position, price, goals, and Fantasy points against the answer — green for a match, amber for close, and an arrow for higher or lower. Guests can play; sign in to keep a streak. Share your grid without spoiling the answer. Under the board, a count shows how many players still fit every clue so far.

Want more than one a day? Switch the toggle to Practice for a new random player every round, as many rounds as you like. It never uses today’s player and doesn’t count towards your streak.

Higher or Lower

Higher or Lower: ten pairs of Premier League players a day, the same for everyone. Each pair shows one stat — Fantasy points, goals, assists, price, ownership, or expected goal involvements (xGI). You see the left player’s number; guess whether the right player’s is higher or lower. Get it right and the right player moves across to face someone new. There are no ties, and one wrong answer ends the run.

Your score is out of 10. Stats are taken when the day’s chain is set, so a match later that day won’t change the answers. Guests can play; sign in to keep a streak of days played. Share your result without spoiling the players.

Want more? Switch the toggle to Practice for an endless chain: keep going until you get one wrong, and chase your best run. It doesn’t touch your streak.

Pitch Grid

Pitch Grid: a three-by-three grid, the same for everyone each day. Each row is a Premier League club and each column a rule, like “3+ goals this season”, “£8.0m+”, or “Defender”. Pick a square and name a player who plays for that club and fits that rule. Right, and he fills the square; wrong, and the guess is gone but the square stays open.

You have nine guesses for nine squares, and each player counts once. Stats are this season’s from Fantasy, and clubs are where players are now. When you’re done, empty squares show an answer and every square shows how many players fit. Guests can play; sign in to keep a streak.

Career Path

Career Path: one Premier League player a day, guessed from his past seasons. You start with one season — his price, minutes, goals, assists, and Fantasy points. Every miss shows another clue: a later season, this season, his position, then his club. Six guesses. A wrong guess tells you if he’s at the same club or plays the same position. Guests can play; sign in to keep a streak.

Next steps

Tools after understanding — not “follow the app”:

1. Skim rankings and ask who looks sensible for your budget.
2. Compare two or three names before you move.
3. Optional: Join, link your team, and use Advice and the Planner as a checklist — then decide on the official FPL site.

Pitchline tips are guesses with numbers behind them. Your progress improves when you understand the trade-offs — and only then use the tools.