How To Win At Telegraph Fantasy Football 2024/25: The Complete Guide

This is a How To Win at Telegraph Fantasy Football members' guide, updated ahead of the 2024/25 season.

We will be covering everything from team structure, winning tips, fatal errors, managing your team over the season, secret TFF weapons and mini-league play.

This will teach you everything you need to know to play Telegraph Fantasy Football…and win.

If you are new to Telegraph Fantasy Football you will want to read our How to Play Telegraph Fantasy Football guide first.

Once you have read this, make sure you visit and bookmark the Telegraph Fantasy Ultimate Guide, written by the very best Telegraph fantasy players.

This gives you the best Telegraph Fantasy Football tips and content to help you become a better fantasy football manager and dominate your mini-leagues.

What you get in the Telegraph Fantasy Football guide:

• Winning formations and team structure.
• 10 winning principles (including the golden transfer rule) and five fatal errors
• Managing your team over a season and key resources.
• Transfer checklist and mini-league tips.

You can either read each section in order (advised for beginners) or skip to a section of your choice (intermediate and advanced players).

Section 1: Winning formations and team structure

There is no golden formation for Telegraph Fantasy Football. Each season is different and your formation should change and evolve as the season progresses.

Based on previous seasons, heavy investment in defence had been a sound basis for a successful team, however in the last couple of seasons the lack of clean sheets has meant a more balanced team has worked well.

Formations such as 4-4-2, 4-5-1, 5-3-2 and 5-4-1 were the favoured formations to maximise team value, but 3-5-2, 3-4-3 and 4-3-3 have been successful in recent seasons.

Five Telegraph Fantasy Football structure tips

Ability to switch between positions

This is an obvious one for those who already play the game but is nevertheless important to remember.

For example, you can switch out a midfielder for a striker or vice-versa, as long as it remains a valid formation.

Have flexible price points

We can’t stress how important this is. Even experienced players restrict their ability to bring in new players.

As an example, having five midfielders priced between £4.0m and £5.0m means that it requires two precious transfers to bring in a midfielder of £5.5m+.

There is no correct formation

Don’t be rigid in your thinking and say ‘I always play 3-4-3’. There are likely to be times across a season where all formations are valid.

Good managers will recognise these shifts and adapt their formation accordingly.

There will be times in the second half of the season where 3-4-3, for example, will maximise the current fixture run better than other formations.

Think long-term

Set yourself up for the long-term particularly in the first half of the season. Have you looked at the long-term fixtures? Have you considered what will happen if a player gets injured or drops out of form? Are you able to bring in a big hitting player in one move if they hit a hot streak?

Planning ahead is crucial to this and something we’ll come back to later in the series.

Jump on cheap players

A few weeks into the season there are often some value gems that emerge. Cole Palmer was the bargain of the 23/24 season; it’s crucial to jump on these players when the opportunity arises as it frees up a ton of budget and flexibility for your squad.

Types of players you need in Telegraph Fantasy Football

In the TFF game, all positions now have decent options thanks to the change of awarding midfielder bonus points.

Nailed-on and unlikely to get injured

With no bench and limited transfers, it's crucial to have players that are not only regular starters but are unlikely not to get injured.

The big point-scoring midfielders and forwards

Make sure you book two or three spots in your team for the likes of Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland, Buyako Saka, Son Heung-min, Bruno Fernandes, and Kevin De Bruyne who will all score well at different points in the season.

It's impossible to own them all but by ensuring you have their price-point covered means you can rotate them at will when injuries occur or the fixtures turn.

Cheaper bonus enablers

To afford those big hitting midfielders and forwards, you’ll need some cheap players. Midfield tacklers can provide value and go under the radar.

Joao Gomes of Wolves racked up 136 tackles up last season in addition to a handful of goals and assists, making him one of the best value players in the game.

Section 2: 10 tips and winning principles for Telegraph Fantasy Football