A term that gets thrown around the Fantasy Premier League community is ‘template team’. But what is a template team?
In FPL, the template team is the 11 players that are most picked.
These assets are usually the ones that score highly, have good fixtures and/or are underpriced.
Here is the current Fantasy Premier League 2022/23 team, as of writing.
To make the template team fit within the budgetary constraints of £100.0m, some players have been excluded. One of these is Heung Min Son,
Instead, Matty Cash has been included as he’s the next most owned and the budget allows for him.
Edouard Mendy
Mendy is currently the most owned goalkeeper in the game, with 21% of players selecting him.
He is part of the Chelsea defence that kept 16 clean sheets last season, boasting the third-best defence overall (conceding 33).
Alongside those points he will get save points too, stopping 74% of efforts last term (fourth highest in the league).
The Frenchman is priced at £5.0m, which is a cheap way into a solid Chelsea defence.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
TAA was the highest-scoring defender last season, amassing 208 points.
He got two goals and 12 assists, averaging 0.4 returns per 90 which ranks him in the 99th percentile of defenders in Europe’s top 5 leagues.
With Liverpool signing Darwin Nunez this summer, the full-back will have more attacking firepower to pick out this season, at least from an aerial standpoint.
The defender is a must-have player for sure.
Joao Cancelo
Cancelo follows TAA in the table for highest-scoring defenders, getting 201 points.
Despite only scoring once he’s a huge goal threat from defence, accumulating an xG of 4.1. This stat makes him the highest ranking defender for threat in FPL.
Additionally, he’s heavily involved in build-up play, having the most touches of any player in the league last campaign (3714), a whole 600 more than second (Rodri).
Being part of City’s defence makes him an attractive pick as well. Their defence was the joint best, keeping 21 clean sheets and conceding just 26, whilst having the lowest xGA too (27.2).
Man City also have great fixtures to start, facing only one of last season’s top half in their opening 6.
Reece James
Another very good attacking full-back is Chelsea’s Reece James.
James scored 5 times last term, the joint most of all defenders, and, per 90, took 1.9 shots and had 0.2 non-penalty goals. This ranks him in the 99th percentile for both metrics.
He has 9 assists too, getting 0.4 per 90 (third most) and is much cheaper at £6.0m than the two mentioned above.
Additionally, being part of the Chelsea defence he’ll get clean sheet points. If he stays injury-free, he will challenge the aforementioned pair for points, too.
Ivan Perisic
With defender goals earning 6 points each, Perisic could score highly. His 8 for Inter last season (0.3 per 90) would comfortably rank him highest for goals from defensive assets.
He also had 5.2 touches in the opposition box per 90, which is in the top 99% in Europe’s top 5 leagues for full backs.
Read More: Should You Pick Ivan Perisic in FPL 2022/23?
The Croat supplied 6 assists too. With Spurs’ defence being the fourth best (conceding 40) he could be another high-scoring asset at the back.
It’s worth noting that Perisic’s minutes could be limited but this shouldn’t take away from what has the potential of an excellent FPL asset.
Matty Cash
Cash is a wing-back who frequently gets forward. With Aston Villa’s narrow set-up, their wing-backs are the only width providers.
He is great value at £5.0m, clocking up four goals and three assists last campaign whilst scoring the second most points per million (29.4).
The Poland international hit 94 crosses (6th most) playing the most minutes of any outfielder last season (3377).
Although he’s an exciting asset, Lucas Digne might be an even better pick. Digne per 90 had more assists, xA, shot-creating actions, goal-creating actions and crosses than Cash.
However, Cash is a far bigger goal threat. With this said, they are both great options to choose between.
Villa have favourable opening fixtures, starting with Bournemouth, Everton and Palace.
Mohamed Salah
What more needs to be said for one of the best FPL players ever.
He was the joint Golden Boot winner last season with 23 goals and has hit over 230 points every season at Anfield.
The Egyptian is part of the 94-goal Liverpool team last term, which made them the second highest scorers.
Salah averaged an attacking return every 75 minutes for the Reds, more often than anyone else in the league.
Furthermore, he’s on penalties too, scoring 5 in 2021/22 (second most).
Luis Diaz
Another component in the potent Liverpool attack is Luis Diaz.
The Colombian scored four and assisted three during 11 starts, averaging 0.66 returns per 90.
He is heavily involved in the action, taking 3.6 shots, 4.6 shot-creating actions and 0.4 goal-creating actions per 90.
Also, the winger takes more touches in the opposition box (8.2) than Mane (8), Jota (7.2) and Firmino (6.7).
Lots have him to cover for Salah whilst opting for Son, but he is definitely in for a good season this year.
His £8.0m price tag surprised many, especially given Mane’s departure to Bayern Munich.
Pedro Neto
Neto is the best £5.5m midfield option out there. He’s not playing in a very attacking side, but Wolves are dangerous on the counter attack.
The winger got 0.4 goals and assists per 90 last term whilst underperforming his non-penalty xG + xA per 90 (0.51).
This suggests that after a season plagued by injuries that the best is yet to come for Neto.
Regular starts can get him back to his 20/21 season form, where he scored 5 and got 8 assists.
Erling Haaland
Haaland is possibly the most anticipated signing of the summer arriving from Dortmund.
He is a goal machine, scoring over one goal per 90 in his last 5 seasons playing for Dortmund and Salzburg.
He also averaged 0.4 assists per 90 in his last Bundesliga campaign (7th most) and could be on penalties in Manchester, scoring 6 last season.
Read More: Best Budget Forwards – FPL 2022/23
The Norwegian has been handed good fixtures allowing him to adapt to the Premier League better, but rotation is always possible with Pep.
Missing 16 games last season has City fans hoping he stays fit but otherwise he should definitely start the majority of their league matches.
Gabriel Jesus
On the opposite way out of Manchester is Gabriel Jesus. Arsenal have taken in the Brazilian and he fills a massive hole up front for the Gunners.
He was underrated for City, returning 0.8 goals and assists per 90 (8th most), providing 18 goal-creating actions at a rate of 0.8 per 90 (second most).
Jesus’ last campaign at City was his worst scoring season per 90 (0.38) but he still scored 8 times whilst being deployed on the wing at times.
At £8.0m, he has attracted many suitors with his cheap price and could score lots of goals in North London.
Update: Jesus is now picked by more than 75% of FPL managers.
FPL Template Team
The template team for the Fantasy Premier League 2022/23 is:
| Name | Team | Position | Price | Pick % | 21/22 Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edouard Mendy | Chelsea | Goalkeeper | £5.0m | 21% | 130 |
| Trent Alexander-Arnold | Liverpool | Defender | £7.5m | 59% | 208 |
| Joao Cancelo | Man City | Defender | £7.0m | 45% | 201 |
| Reece James | Chelsea | Defender | £6.0m | 40% | 141 |
| Ivan Perisic | Spurs | Defender | £5.5m | 28% | N/A |
| Matty Cash | Aston Villa | Defender | £5.0m | 21% | 147 |
| Mohamed Salah | Liverpool | Midfielder | £13.0m | 61% | 265 |
| Luis Diaz | Liverpool | Midfielder | £8.0m | 22% | 64 |
| Pedro Neto | Wolves | Midfielder | £5.5m | 19% | 22 |
| Erling Haaland | Man City | Forward | £11.5m | 45% | N/A |
| Gabriel Jesus | Arsenal | Forward | £8.0m | 75% | 120 |
Should You Copy the Template Team?
This depends on a couple of factors: how seriously you take your rank and how much fun you like to have with FPL.
If you want to start strongly then by picking players with high ownership it is likely you’ll do well. After all, most of the time players are highly picked for a reason.
The gains may be far from spectacular, especially at the beginning of the season, but over the course of 38 gameweeks you can’t go too far wrong.
Read More: Top 10 Best Budget Midfielders – FPL 2022/23
Going without highly owned assets is risky because if they start off well you can find yourself far adrift of everyone else who opted for them.
It’s wise to include a couple of differentials in your team too. This way you gain rank on people who overlooked them.
Having some form of differential is what will differentiate you from the crowd. Plus, this makes it a lot more fun too, especially if they haul.
However, we can’t own every template player so some have to be left out. Choose carefully!