Never put your eggs in one basket… Much like in finance, where investors spread their capital across various assets to mitigate risk and maximize returns, Fantasy Premier League managers can benefit from spreading their resources across a variety of players and teams.
In this article, we will look at why is diversification important when picking players for your Fantasy Football team.
Understanding Diversification
Diversification is a risk management strategy that involves spreading out investments to reduce exposure to any one particular asset or risk.
In the stock market, for example, investors diversify their portfolio by investing in a mix of stocks, bonds, and other assets. This way, if one stock performs poorly, the loss can be offset by the performance of other investments.
Diversification in Fantasy Premier League
In FPL, diversification involves selecting players from a variety of teams rather than concentrating on just a few teams. This strategy can help managers mitigate the risk associated with a single team’s poor performance.
For example, if you have multiple players from one team and that team has a bad week, your FPL team will likely suffer significantly.
However, if your players are spread out across several teams, the poor performance of one team will have a less drastic impact on your overall score.
Pros: Diversification Protects Your Downside
By spreading your players across multiple teams, you reduce the risk of your FPL team’s performance being severely affected by one team’s poor performance. This can lead to more consistent scoring from week to week.
Basically, when you diversify your FPL squad to include players from multiple teams, you are protecting yourself from having a very bad gameweek which could occur if you, for example, had 3 Man City players, 3 Liverpool players, and 3 Arsenal players and all these teams would lose their game without even scoring.
Additionally, diversification can increase the potential for higher returns. By having players from a variety of teams, you increase the chances of having players who perform exceptionally well in any given week. This is because different teams have different strengths and weaknesses, and face different opponents each week. A diversified team can capitalize on these variations, potentially leading to higher overall scores.
Cons: Diversification Limits Your Upside
While diversification in FPL offers numerous benefits, it’s important to note that it also has its drawbacks. One of the main cons is the potential for diluting your points. If you have players from many different teams, you’re spreading your potential points across a wider range of fixtures. This means that while you’re less likely to have a very bad week, you might also be less likely to have a very good week.
For example, if you have three players from a team that wins 5-0, you’re likely to score a lot of points from that single match. But if you only have one player from that team because you’ve diversified your team across many different teams, you’ll score fewer points from that match.
Finding a Balance: Protecting and Creating Wealth in FPL
In investing, there’s a saying that diversification protects wealth, while concentration creates wealth.
This means that while diversification can help protect your FPL points by spreading risk, concentration can help create points by capitalizing on the strong performance of a few players or teams.
Finding the right balance between these two strategies is key to success in FPL. Too much concentration can leave your team vulnerable to the poor performance of a single player or team, while too much diversification can dilute your points and lead to mediocre performance.
One strategy to achieve this balance is to have a core group of premium players who you expect to consistently score high points, supplemented by a diverse group of lower-cost players from a variety of teams. This allows you to benefit from the high-scoring potential of your core players, while also spreading risk across a wider range of players.
Another strategy is to adjust your level of diversification throughout the season based on factors such as double gameweeks, fixture difficulty, team form, and player injuries. This flexible approach allows you to capitalize on opportunities to score high points, while also protecting your team from unexpected setbacks.
There are times in a season when you just need 3 Man City players or 3 Arsenal or 3 Liverpool players, because of their form or fixtures. You just need to make sure your FPL team is not solely reliant on just very few teams, and even if you have for example 3 Man City players, the rest of your squad – especially the cheaper spots of less reliable players – are diversified.
Conclusion
Diversification is a powerful strategy in FPL, helping managers mitigate risk, however, it can limit the potential points upside. By spreading players across multiple teams and balancing between premium and budget picks, managers can build a team that is resilient to fluctuations in form and primed to capitalize on opportunities.
Remember, in FPL, as in finance, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify, find a balance between concentration and diversification and give your team the best chance of success.
Further Resources
