Fantasy Premier League 2011/12 Season Preview – Introduction & Rules
With the 2011/12 English Premier League Season nearly upon us, it is time the 20 teams of the Barclays Premier League gear up for another 38 games of unadulterated footballing action, while the rest of us log onto our computers and pretend to be managers
ourselves with some Fantasy Premier League action.
Before we begin it is important that the rules of the Barclays Premier League’s official website’s game be made clear.
Firstly, a team must consist of 14 players, with two goal keepers, five defenders, five midfielders and three strikers.
The manager can choose a number of formations, but there must be a minimum of three defenders on the field at one time. Also there can be no more than three strikers, or five midfielders in the playing XI.
In between those rules, managers can choose any formation they see fit.
The manager is also given a bench, where the remaining four players, who are not in the starting XI, will be placed. If, for any reason, one or more of the starting XI players do not play during that particular game week’s matches they will be subbed with
one of the players on the bench.
However, the players will not be subbed based on their positions, but rather on the basis of how the manager prioritised them, by giving them preference based on the allocation of the numbers 1, 2 and 3 which stand for first choice, second choice and third
choice.
The scoring system is quite simple.
A single point is awarded for appearing in a game, be it starting or coming on off the bench.
An extra point is awarded if the player plays for over 60 minutes.
While those rules apply to every player, different positions get their own unique options of earning points.
Take the goal keeper for example, a clean sheet earns the keeper 4 points (as do defenders), while 1 point is deducted for every two goals the keeper concedes.
The keeper also gets 3 points for any assist. Assists are different here from their normal definition, as in the game ‘the last pass leading up to a goal’ is counted as an assist, regardless of how many touches the goal scorer takes afterwards.
Goals scored by Goal Keepers and Defenders earn 6 points, midfielders earn 5 and strikers earn 4 points for goals scored.
There are a few more interesting rules, which managers should keep in mind when picking a team, and they are that every penalty saved by a goal keeper earns 5 points for every penalty he manages to save, while players who miss their spot kicks get a deduction
of 2 points.
A single point is also awarded to any midfielder if their team keeps a clean sheet. It is important to note that the team should not have conceded a goal, regardless of the player having been subbed before his side conceded their first goal. For example,
if Rio Ferdinand is substituted at 60mins and the score is 0-0 and Manchester United concede a goal then Ferdinand would not get those points.
Own goals bring a 2 point deduction, with yellow and red cards resulting in 1 and 3 point deductions respectively.
All in all, once the player plays a few match weeks, he will get a good idea of how the rules work
Disclaimer: The views and ideas expressed in this article are the writer's own and do not reflect the editorial policy of Bettor.com
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