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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Paul MacInnes

Fantasy Premier League: a compelling refuge of fatalism and black humour

Mo Salah celebrates scoring his and Liverpool's second goal at Bournemouth
Mo Salah celebrates another goal, and more FPL points for our correspondent. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Only two weeks to go. That’s the mantra. Two more weeks to endure the familiar trauma of logging on to the fantasy football app, picking a team, celebrating the wise decisions that have led you to create an unbeatable unit, watching the weekend’s football disabuse you of this notion, then repeating the whole thing again.

It’s supposed to be a game, but Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is more like a lifestyle. Or a second job. Or even exactly like being a professional footballer: the focus, determination and relentless commitment should really be rewarded with a weekly salary, preferably in the five figures. But no, instead we have to make do with a brief appearance of a green arrow next to our team name or, more likely, a red one.

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