I've got my team in for the Hive Fantasy League and idly wondered how simple it would be to create another team, this time built using ChatGPT.
Initial attempts were frustrating. I was provided with teams with players selected from teams outwith this seasons EPL (from last seasons relegated teams) and a continual inability of the LLM to complete basic mathematical functions. On several attempts I was provided with a squad that looked suitable, and within the 100 million spending limit. Except, when I put the squad into the game the total was over - on one occasion by 8.5 million. The prices provided were all correct on some occasions, but the program somehow failed to add them together correctly. Other times the player prices provided differed by a million or two from those in game.
So today I sat to write a prompt which should negate these issues. It read:
Create a Fantasy Football Team for the 2025/2026 Fantasy Premier League game. Use teams that are in the 2025/2026 English Premier League. Use the game rules found here: https://fantasy.premierleague.com/help/rules. Use the squads and player prices found here: https://fantasy.premierleague.com/squad-selection. Ensure the total squad cost does not exceed 100 million by using the player prices provided in the Fantasy Premier League Game - do not use player prices from outside of the Fantasy Premier League game. Ensure there are no more than three players from any single team. Ensure players are selected from only teams playing in the 2025/2026 English Premier League.
ChatGPT provided this response:
It looks like I wasn’t able to access the publicly visible individual player prices or squad list from those links—but no worries, I can still help you craft a great Fantasy Premier League (FPL) squad for the 2025/26 season. To do it accurately, I'll need just a little more from you:
Could you provide the current player prices and squads for the 2025/26 FPL season? You can paste a list or share screenshots of those details—especially the players, their price values, and their club affiliations. That way I can ensure your team stays under the £100 million budget, respects the max of three players per Premier League club, and uses only those clubs participating in the 2025/26 EPL.
Once you send those, I’ll build a competitive and balanced squad following FPL rules!
Needless to say, I'm not extracting the information from the game.
So it's back to a more basic prompt:
Create a Fantasy Football Team for the 2025/2026 Fantasy Premier League game. Use teams that are in the 2025/2026 English Premier League. Use the game rules found here: https://fantasy.premierleague.com/help/rules. Use the squads and player prices found here: https://fantasy.premierleague.com/squad-selection. Ensure the total squad cost does not exceed 100 million. Ensure there are no more than three players from any single team. Ensure players are selected from only teams playing in the 2025/2026 English Premier League.
The prompt has only excised this part: by using the player prices provided in the Fantasy Premier League Game - do not use player prices from outside of the Fantasy Premier League game
And now?
Summary Squad Under £100 m
Goalkeepers (2): Pickford (Everton), Perri (Leeds)
Defenders (5): Aït‑Nouri (Man City), Hato (Chelsea), Mosquera (Arsenal), Aznou (Everton), (drop Lecomte)
Midfielders (5): Wirtz (Liverpool), Gyökeres (Arsenal), Xhaka (Sunderland), Arias (Wolves), Stach (Leeds)
Forwards (3): Isak (Newcastle), Haaland (Man City), Callum Wilson (West Ham)
Total cost: approx £98.5 m
This is the team suggested. Except, there are only four defenders, and the EPL fantasy game has Gyökeres listed as a Forward not a Midfielder.
So, let's ask it to amend these errors with the prompt:
This list only has four defenders, and Gyökeres is listed as a forward not a mid-fielder in the Fantasy Premier League game, so another mid-fielder is required.
Which led to this response:
Final, Corrected 15‑Player Squad
Goalkeepers (2)
Jordan Pickford (Everton) – £5.5 m
Lucas Perri (Leeds United) – £4.5 m
Defenders (5)
Rayan Aït‑Nouri (Man City) – £6.0 m
Jorrel Hato (Chelsea) – £5.0 m
Cristhian Mosquera (Arsenal) – £5.5 m
Adam Aznou (Everton) – £4.5 m
Tyrick Mitchell (Crystal Palace) – ~£4.0 m
Midfielders (5)
Florian Wirtz (Liverpool) – £8.5 m
Granít Xhaka (Sunderland) – £5.0 m
Jhon Arias (Wolves) – £5.5 m
Anton Stach (Leeds United) – £5.0 m
Morgan Gibbs‑White (Nottingham Forest) – ~£6.0 m
Forwards (3)
Alexander Isak (Newcastle United) – £10.5 m
Erling Haaland (Man City) – £14.0 m
Callum Wilson (West Ham) – £6.0 m
Estimated Total Squad Cost: £95.5 m
The actual squad cost is £98m, so still not great, but at least on the right side of the equation.
Now, as to how I'll run this. Each game week I'll ask CHatGPT to suggest any transfers up to the number of transfers I have available, and also to suggest a game week line-up.
The prompt for the line up suggestion I used is:
Using the list of players above suggest a line-up for Game Week One og the English Premier League as found at https://www.premierleague.com/en/matches?competition=8&season=2025&matchweek=1&month=08
This led to a 4-3-3 formation suggestion. I then asked ChatGPT to consider 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 formations, and then to consider the best option of the three.
This is the result:
Formation: 3 Defenders – 4 Midfielders – 3 Forwards
Goalkeeper
Jordan Pickford (Everton) – Home vs Leeds; high clean sheet probability.
Defenders (3)
Rayan Aït-Nouri (Man City) – Away vs Wolves; strong win and clean sheet odds.
Adam Aznou (Everton) – Home vs Leeds; budget-friendly starter with attacking potential.
Cristhian Mosquera (Arsenal) – Away vs Man Utd; tough fixture, but he’s nailed and could get bonus points.
Midfielders (4)
Florian Wirtz (Liverpool) – Home vs Bournemouth; prime attacking fixture.
Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest) – Home vs Brentford; good creative role.
Granít Xhaka (Sunderland) – Home vs West Ham; potential set-piece threat.
Jhon Arias (Wolves) – Home vs Man City; difficult match, but offers pace and counter-attack threat.
Forwards (3)
Erling Haaland (Man City) – Away vs Wolves; must-start captain candidate.
Alexander Isak (Newcastle) – Away vs Aston Villa; in-form striker with penalty duties.
Callum Wilson (West Ham) – Away vs Sunderland; could score against his former club.
Bench Order
Lucas Perri (GK) – Away vs Everton.
Tyrick Mitchell (Crystal Palace) – Away vs Chelsea; tough fixture.
Jorrel Hato (Chelsea) – Home vs Palace; strong fixture but rotated out in 3-defence setup.
You may notice the Bench only covers 3 subs, not the goalkeeper and 3 subs. I've put Everton's Stach in the final sub spot.
So, that is the start - I wonder how many weeks into the season I'll make it before forgetting.
text by stuartcturnbull. Banner from Hito_Stountio via Pixabay and edited in Canva
*nb - I forgot to get the basic 4-4-2 formation checked - I'll amend that next week, if I remember.