With some big changes coming to the Premier League next season, <a href="https://twitter.com/FPL_Guide">George Kenny</a> takes a look at three big events that could change the way we play FPL in 2022/23, and how you should react to them as an FPL manager.
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<h2>Five Substitutes Rule</h2>
From the beginning of next season, Premier League managers will be allowed to make five substitutions per game &#8211; two more than what we are used to seeing in the Premier League.
While some will argue that this should provide more opportunities for young players, there is a growing sentiment that the rule gives an advantage to those teams with bigger squads, such as Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester City. To this end, Pep Guardiola was able to bench the likes of Jack Grealish, Raheem Sterling and match-winner Ilkay Gundogan on the final day.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-46484" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-15.55.07.jpg" alt="city depth" width="1058" height="862" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-15.55.07.jpg 1058w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-15.55.07-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-15.55.07-1024x834.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-15.55.07-768x626.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-15.55.07-610x497.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1058px) 100vw, 1058px" />
From an FPL perspective, this rule change could mean:
1) More players hauled off before the dreaded 60 minute mark, losing out on potential appearance and clean sheet points.
2) More players subbed on late in Premier League games, likely picking up just 1 FPL point.
3) FPL benches are much less likely to come into play, as brief cameos for popular players become more common (I&#8217;m looking at you, Reece James).
So, how should we respond to this rule change as FPL managers?
Firstly, I present to you the case of Antonio Conte. As manager of Inter Milan in 2020/21, he had five subs at his disposal, and &#8211; unfortunately for us &#8211; he was not afraid to use them.
The Italian had a habit of substituting a wingback prior to the sixty minute mark in almost every Serie A game, which in FPL terms could be utterly disastrous.
At Spurs, he has Reguilon, Sessegnon, Doherty, Emerson Royal &#8211; and now Ivan Perisic &#8211; at his disposal, so we should certainly expect to see some heavy rotation in this position.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-46476" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.12.03.jpg" alt="spurs wingbacks conte" width="1062" height="864" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.12.03.jpg 1062w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.12.03-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.12.03-1024x833.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.12.03-768x625.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.12.03-610x496.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1062px) 100vw, 1062px" />
To this end, we must be wary of any defenders who have a high likelihood of being subbed off before 60 minutes, as they are the players who have the most to lose by coming off, with a 4 point clean sheet on the line.
On the other hand, consider the likes of Riyad Mahrez. In seasons gone by, you may have felt relatively safe owning the explosive Algerian, in the knowledge that if he didn&#8217;t start, there was a good chance he wouldn&#8217;t come on at all, allowing your first auto-sub to come into play.
With these extra substitutions now a factor however, it seems unlikely that Pep Guardiola will leave his superstar names on the bench quite so often in 2022/23, leading to a probable increase in cameo appearances.
As FPL managers, we must now put even more of an emphasis on avoiding players who don&#8217;t look 100% nailed to start, to avoid our players subbing on around the 80th minute to return a single point.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-46477" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.14.13.jpg" alt="mahrez fpl" width="1058" height="862" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.14.13.jpg 1058w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.14.13-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.14.13-1024x834.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.14.13-768x626.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.14.13-610x497.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1058px) 100vw, 1058px" />
Finally, these changes likely mean that our FPL bench is suddenly a lot less useful, as our starters are less likely to play zero minutes.
Perhaps this is something we can consider when building our Gameweek 1 squad in 2022/23: putting more money into our starting XI, and opting for a quartet of £4.5m options on our bench, under the assumption that it is very unlikely they will come into play on a regular basis.
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<h2>Qatar World Cup 2022</h2>
Due to the extreme weather conditions of Summer in the Middle East (a cool 40 degrees Celsius at the time of writing) this year&#8217;s Qatar World Cup will take place between November 21 and December 18. The Premier League will pause for the duration of the tournament, returning for Boxing Day fixtures on December 26th.
This translates to a 5 week break from FPL, and a whole lot of uncertainty.
We do have some historical precedent; following the break from football during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, FPL managers were given an extra Wildcard in order to deal with the ensuing chaos.
It remains to be seen whether or not FPL managers will be given any extra chips following the 2022 World Cup, so for now we should move forward on the assumption that everything remains as usual.
In this case, the best strategy for a successful 2022/23 season may be to hold your chips until after the World Cup, as a Free Hit or Wildcard could be extremely useful if your FPL players are affected by injuries, fatigue, or rotation.
We should also be wary of &#8220;picking up where we left off&#8221; in the sense that a lot can change in 5 weeks &#8211; especially when so many Premier League players will be playing in Qatar.
If Jarrod Bowen, for example, begins the season in red hot form, but then goes away to his first ever tournament with England, there is no guarantee that his Premier League form will resume in the New Year. We cannot underestimate the physical and mental toll of a mid-season World Cup on Premier League players &#8211; especially one so far from home.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-46478" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.39.27.jpg" alt="bowen assists" width="1062" height="866" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.39.27.jpg 1062w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.39.27-300x245.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.39.27-1024x835.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.39.27-768x626.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-14.39.27-610x497.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1062px) 100vw, 1062px" />
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<h2>Erling Haaland&#8217;s Transfer to Manchester City</h2>
A rule change, a mid-season tournament, and a big Norwegian.
Manchester City&#8217;s new striker is the third and final point of contention within this article, and he could certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons when it comes to forwards.
Five players scored 200+ FPL points in 2021/22, but not a single one of them was a forward.
Enter Erling.
The 21-year-old scored 62 goals in 67 league games for Borussia Dortmund, and comes to the Premier League as arguably the most complete striker in the world, joining arguably the most complete team in the world.
But he&#8217;s not cheap, and this season, spending £12-13m in the forward position didn&#8217;t get you very far.
Premium strikers were very much a bust in 2022/23. We saw Ronaldo playing for the worst United side in decades, Lukaku struggling to see eye-to-eye with Tuchel, and Kane playing second fiddle to Son.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-46480" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-15.22.00.jpg" alt="fpl premium forwards" width="1066" height="862" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-15.22.00.jpg 1066w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-15.22.00-300x243.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-15.22.00-1024x828.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-15.22.00-768x621.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-15.22.00-610x493.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1066px) 100vw, 1066px" />
These failures may put FPL managers off spending a large chunk of their budget up top, but Haaland should offer a very different prospect.
For one, Manchester City are a completely different level of attack compared to the likes of Manchester United, which straight away makes him a far more appealing option than someone like Cristiano Ronaldo, who did well to score 17 in such a poor United side.
Romelu Lukaku&#8217;s inability to assimilate at Chelsea can be somewhat attributed to the other forward options Tuchel has at his disposal, with Havertz and Werner eating into the striker&#8217;s minutes.
City meanwhile only really have Julian Alvarez as competition in this position, often utilising the likes of Foden and De Bruyne as auxiliary forwards.
Whilst many would suggest this trend will continue despite the arrival of Haaland, I personally don&#8217;t see it. Injuries permitting, I think Haaland will start the majority of Premier League games, and he will be the player furthest up the pitch whenever he plays.
That is what sets him apart from Harry Kane, who has seen Heung-Min Son eclipse him as the biggest goal threat for Spurs, while the England man settles into a deeper role under Conte.
Of course, much will depend on the early season fixtures, but if any City attacker is going into my Gameweek 1 team, it&#8217;s going to be this guy.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-46490" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-18.07.28.jpg" alt="haaland" width="1300" height="942" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-18.07.28.jpg 1300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-18.07.28-300x217.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-18.07.28-1024x742.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-18.07.28-768x557.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-18.07.28-610x442.jpg 610w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Screenshot-2022-05-25-at-18.07.28-1080x783.jpg 1080w" sizes="(max-width: 1300px) 100vw, 1300px" />
There are simply too many high quality midfielders at Pep&#8217;s disposal, and with the aforementioned 5 substitutes rule, I won&#8217;t be going near the likes of Foden or Mahrez in 2022/23.
Additionally, we are likely to be once again spoiled for choice in midfield, and given how useless forwards have been this season, it might be somewhat of a comfort blanket to just stick Haaland in, and focus your transfers on bringing in high-upside midfielders.
With the amount of chances Manchester City create, in my eyes it would take a brave FPL manager to go without Haaland if he hits the ground running in preseason &#8211; but what do I know, I finished 87k.
Thanks for reading!

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<a href="https://twitter.com/FPL_Guide">George Kenny</a>

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