Can clubs stop team news leaking out through FPL picks?

Published28 October 2026, 08:36 GMT

Chelsea head coach Xabi Alonso was caught off guard after Saturday's loss to Tottenham when asked whether he was aware that Joao Pedro's injury had been leaked through the popular Fantasy Premier League game.

His response was: "I am not into the fantasy team thing, so I didn't know that."

Accounts believed by FPL trackers to belong to Chelsea staff, a player and a relative of a player appeared to transfer out or bench Joao Pedro before the deadline.

One Fantasy Premier League manager, known online as FPL Karim, was among those who believed they had identified information by tracking selections made by a relative of Chelsea forward Morgan Rogers.

He said: "There were rumours that a player was missing from Chelsea's attack. I went to check Rogers' team, but he'd sold Joao Pedro two or three gameweeks earlier when he was injured. He never bought him back.

"Then I checked his brother's FPL team and saw that he'd sold Joao Pedro that gameweek and brought in Nicolas Jackson. I thought it was a bit weird. Why would you sell him when he's one of the most-owned forwards in the game?

"That's when I felt maybe it was Joao Pedro who was missing out. I posted about it, it went viral, and that was basically it."

Confirmation of the injury emerged after the FPL deadline had passed, meaning 1.7 million managers had already selected Joao Pedro as captain, which doubles a player's points return.

The absence also came as a surprise to many following Chelsea's 2-0 defeat by Tottenham, given Joao Pedro had been pictured in training during the week before the match.

Alonso later said the striker had missed the game because of "fluid on his thigh".

'Some players have started using aliases'

Alonso is one of a number of managers who have become increasingly guarded when discussing team news in media conferences.

Last month, he said: "I prefer not to give more information than needed."

On that occasion, his side went on to lose 3-0 at Brentford, having kept several injury concerns, including one involving Joao Pedro, under wraps.

Yet such is the popularity of Fantasy Premier League - a game played by more than 11 million people according to official figures - that many staff members, players and relatives of footballers also take part.

By identifying leagues or teams linked to players, staff or family members through the game, which provides an open database of participants, it can be possible to infer what is happening behind closed doors at various training grounds.

Previously, the highest-profile case involved Jack Grealish's absence from Aston Villa's match against Leicester City in February 2021.

Leicester's manager at the time, Brendan Rodgers, admitted he had heard about the issue before the match, while Villa boss Dean Smith reportedly banned figures inside the club from playing FPL after the 2-1 defeat.

Later that year, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola described the situation as "unethical and unprofessional".

There have been many further examples, claiming to suggest players from clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool, Leicester and Newcastle made revelatory changes to their teams.

Often that information is widely shared on social media, but it is also known that some top FPL players will withhold information for smaller circles to gain a competitive advantage in the game itself.

BBC Sport was able to find accounts that trackers claim are linked to staff, players and family members at clubs across the Premier League.

One of the experts in finding these club-linked accounts is FPL Focal, who told BBC Sport: "I am sure there are many more that have not been found. I have noticed some players have started using aliases. I've also had a couple of requests over the years to remove accounts, which I have always respected.

"The FPL leaderboard is completely public, so it is straightforward to look players up. Verifying that an account genuinely belongs to a player takes a bit more time."

Chelsea have had issues with leaks in 2026

Chelsea were subjected to three significant team news leaks during Liam Rosenior's short-lived tenure.

Two came before each leg of Chelsea's record 8-2 aggregate Champions League defeat by Paris St-Germain, while the third occurred before the Englishman's final game in charge.

Remarkably, it later emerged that former defender Marc Cucurella's barber had revealed both Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro were unavailable because of injury.

Since then, Chelsea have reminded players to be careful about who they share information with before matches.

The club have also strengthened security measures at the training ground, including building new fencing around first-team pitches.

Chelsea appeared to have got on top of their leak problems earlier this season, but the Joao Pedro episode serves as a reminder that information can still emerge in unexpected ways.

Clubs can remind players and staff to be careful about what they share and with whom, while some may seek to discourage employees from selecting players from their own club in Fantasy Premier League. The nuclear option would be to ban the game entirely.

There is no league-wide rule against people involved in the sport playing the game and the Premier League defers any issues that emerge as a club matter.

Yet any measures are likely to have limitations.

While clubs can influence staff behaviour, monitoring the activity of players' friends and family members is considerably more difficult.

Related topics

Football

Premier League

Chelsea

Fantasy Football

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