FPL Optimization Repository

This repository is a collection of optimization tutorials and recipes for Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

Python code mainly use pandas for data management and sasoptpy for optimization modeling.

It is being actively developed. The content and the structure of the repository might change.

Tutorials

If you are interested in using optimization for FPL, see my YouTube tutorials on the subject.

Python

Link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrIyJJU8_viOags1yudB_wyafRuTNs1Ed

Python tutorials include following topics

• Goalkeeper selection problem
• Single-period expected value maximization (squad, lineup, captain)
• Multi-period expected value maximization (squad, lineup, captain)
• Alternative solution generation
• Multi-objective optimization (2-Step and Weight methods)
• Bench decisions
• Auto-bench weights and iterative solution for nonlinear case
• Noise in expected values
• Sensitivity analysis
• Data collection from FPL API with login
• Wildcard (chip) optimization

Excel

Link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrIyJJU8_viOLw3BovPDx5QLKkCb8XOTp

My Excel tutorials are rather short but might give you an idea what optimization is capable of doing. Reach out to me if you need the raw data to give it a try.

• Goalkeeper selection problem
• Single-period expected value maximization (squad, lineup, captain)
• Multi-period expected value maximization (squad, lineup, captain)

Instructions

Installation Steps

You will need to follow steps below to install required platform and also optimization solver (CBC).

• Download and install Python and Git to your machine

• Download CBC optimization solver binary and add it to your environment path (example: https://youtu.be/DFXCXoR6Dvw?t=1642)

• Clone the repository

  git clone https://github.com/sertalpbilal/FPL-Optimization-Tools.git fpl-optimization

• Install required packages

  cd fpl-optimization
  python -m pip install -r requirements.txt

• Download FPLReview projections and save it under data and rename it to fplreview.csv

• Navigate to run directory

  cd ..\run

  And run either solve_regular.py (for regular GW solve) or solve_wildcard.py (for wildcard optimization) See instructions below.

• Log in FPL from your browser and open https://fantasy.premierleague.com/api/my-team/MY_TEAM_ID/ after replacing MY_TEAM_ID with your team id. Copy the content of the page into data\team.json file, by creating one.

  A sample team.json file is provided for your reference: team.json.sample

Multi-period GW optimization

• Edit content of data/regular_settings.json file

  {
    "horizon": 5,
    "ft_value": 1.5,
    "ft_value_list": {},
    "ft_use_penalty": 0,
    "itb_value": 0.2,
    "itb_loss_per_transfer": 0,
    "decay_base": 0.84,
    "no_future_transfer": true,
    "no_transfer_last_gws": 0,
    "no_transfer_by_position": null,
    "force_ft_state_lb": [],
    "force_ft_state_ub": [],
    "randomized": false,
    "xmin_lb": 2,
    "ev_per_price_cutoff": 20,
    "keep_top_ev_percent": 10,
    "bench_weights": { "0": 0.03, "1": 0.21, "2": 0.06, "3": 0.002 },
    "banned": [],
    "banned_next_gw": [],
    "locked": [],
    "locked_next_gw": [],
    "price_changes": [],
    "delete_tmp": true,
    "secs": 300,
    "use_cmd": false,
    "future_transfer_limit": null,
    "no_transfer_gws": [],
    "booked_transfers": [],
    "only_booked_transfers": false,
    "use_wc": null,
    "use_bb": null,
    "use_fh": null,
    "chip_limits": { "bb": 0, "wc": 0, "fh": 0, "tc": 0, "am": 0 },
    "no_chip_gws": [],
    "allowed_chip_gws": { "bb": [], "wc": [], "fh": [], "tc": [], "am": [] },
    "forced_chip_gws": { "bb": [], "wc": [], "fh": [], "tc": [], "am": [] },
    "run_chip_combinations": { "bb": [], "wc": [], "fh": [], "tc": [], "am": [] },
    "num_transfers": null,
    "hit_limit": null,
    "weekly_hit_limit": 1,
    "ft_custom_value": null,
    "preseason": false,
    "no_trs_except_wc": false,
    "cbc_path": "",
    "no_opposing_play": false,
    "opposing_play_group": "position",
    "opposing_play_penalty": 0.5,
    "pick_prices": { "G": "", "D": "", "M": "", "F": "" },
    "no_gk_rotation_after": null,
    "max_defenders_per_team": 3,
    "double_defense_pick": false,
    "iteration": 1,
    "iteration_criteria": "this_gw_transfer_in",
    "iteration_target": [],
    "report_decay_base": [0.85, 0.9, 0.95, 1.0, 1.017],
    "datasource": "review",
    "data_weights": {
      "review": 50,
      "review-odds": 25,
      "mikkel": 15
    },
    "export_data": "final.csv",
    "team_data": "json",
    "team_id": null,
    "export_images": false,
    "solve_name": "regular",
    "override_next_gw": null
  }

  • horizon: length of planning horizon

  • ft_value: value assigned to the extra free transfer

  • ft_value_list: values of rolling FTs in different states, for example
    "ft_value_list": {"2": 2.1, "3": 1.8, "4": 1.5, "5": 1.1}
    assigns a value of 2.1 for rolling from 1FT to 2FTs, 1.8 value for rolling from 2FTs to 3FTs, etc...

  • ft_use_penalty: penalty on objective function when an FT is used
    this parameter ensures that no future transfer (excluding this GW) is scheduled unless the gain is above this threshold

  • itb_value: value assigned to having 1.0 extra budget

  • itb_loss_per_transfer: reduction in ITB amount per scheduled transfers in future

  • decay_base: value assigned to decay rate of expected points

  • no_future_transfer: true or false whether you want to plan future transfers or not

  • no_transfer_last_gws: the number of gws at the end of the period you want to ban transfers

  • force_ft_state_lb: list of GWs and minimum number of FTs to force to have (format is (GW, state))
    "force_ft_state":[[4,3], [7,2]] will force solver to have at least 3 FTs in GW4, and 2 FTs in GW7

  • force_ft_state_ub: list of GWs and maximum number of FTs to force to have (format is (GW, state))
    "force_ft_state":[[4,4], [7,3]] will force solver to have at most 4 FTs in GW4, and 3 FTs in GW7

  • randomized: true or false whether you would like to add random noise to EV

  • xmin_lb: cut-off for dropping players below this many minutes expectation

  • ev_per_price_cutoff: cut-off percentile for dropping players based on total EV per price (e.g. 20 means drop players below 20% percentile)

  • keep_top_ev_percent: keeps the top n% of players by total EV in the CSV file. (e.g. 20 means it will keep the 20% highest projected points scorers)

  • bench_weights: percentage weights in objective for bench players (gk and 3 outfield)

  • banned: list of player IDs to be banned over the entire horizon

  • banned_next_gw: list of player IDs to be banned for the next gameweek. Alternatively, you can supply an [ID, gameweek] list as an element of the list to ban a player just for one specific gameweek. E.g. [100, [200, 32]] bans player with ID 100 for the next gameweek, and bans player with ID 200 for gameweek 32

  • locked: list of player IDs to always have during the horizon (e.g. 233 for Salah)

  • locked_next_gw: List of player IDs to force just for the next gameweek. See banned_next_gw for extended usage

  • price_changes: Supply a list of [ID, price_change] pairs to solve as if a player's price has risen or dropped compared to the live price. E.g. [[311, 1], [351, -1]] will solve as if Alexander-Arnold's price is £0.1m higher, and Haaland's price is £0.1m lower than it is in reality.

  • delete_tmp: true or false whether to delete generated temporary files after solve

  • secs: time limit for the solve (in seconds)

  • use_cmd: whether to use os.system or subprocess for running solver, default is false

  • future_transfer_limit: upper bound how many transfers are allowed in future GWs

  • no_transfer_gws: list of GW numbers where transfers are not allowed

  • no_transfer_by_position: list of positions to not transfer in/out. Valid positions: ["G", "D", "M", "F"]. E.g. to block out goalkeeper transfers set this option to ["G"]

  • booked_transfers: list of booked transfers for future gameweeks, needs to have a gw key and at least one of transfer_in or transfer_out with the player ID. For example, to book a transfer of buying Kane (427) on GW5 and selling him on GW7, use
    "booked_transfers": [{"gw": 5, "transfer_in": 427}, {"gw": 7, "transfer_out": 427}]

  • only_booked_transfers: (for next GW) use only booked transfers

  • use_wc: GW to use wildcard (fixed)

  • use_bb: GW to use bench boost (fixed)

  • use_fh: GW to use free hit (fixed)

  • use_tc: GW to use triple captain (fixed)

  • chip_limits: how many chips of each kind can be used by solver (you need to set it to at least 1 when force using a chip)

  • no_chip_gws: list of GWs to ban solver from using a chip

  • allowed_chip_gws: dictionary of list of GWs to allow chips to be used. For example
    "allowed_chip_gws": {"wc": [27,31]}
    will allow solver to use WC in GW27 and GW31, but not in another GW

  • forced_chip_gws: dictionary of list of GWs to force chips to be used. Instead of 'allowing' chips, it makes sure that chips are used

  • run_chip_combinations: generates a list of chip combinations to be tried one-by-one, instead of leaving to the solver

  • num_transfers: fixed number of transfers for this GW

  • hit_limit: limit on total hits can be taken by the solver for entire horizon

  • weekly_hit_limit: limit on hits solver can take in a single GW

  • hit_cost: cost of a hit, 4 points by default but can be overriden to reduce hits suggested

  • ft_custom_value: value of keeping your 2nd free transfer before a GW. For example
    "ft_custom_value": {"35": 2, "38": 0.5}
    will set value of 2nd FT for GW35 to 2 EV, and for GW38 to 0.5 EV

  • preseason: solve flag for GW1 where team data is not important

  • no_trs_except_wc: when true prevents solver to make transfers except using wildcard

  • solver: solver engine, can use either cbc (default) or highs
    In order to use highs solver, you need to download the binary from the following repository
    https://github.com/JuliaBinaryWrappers/HiGHSstatic_jll.jl

  • solver_path: binary location of the solver

  • no_opposing_play: controls the level of cross-playing players in the lineup

    • true if you do not want to have players in your lineup playing against each other in a GW
    • false if you do not want to use this option
    • "penalty" if you want to penalize each instance with a static value

  • opposing_play_group: all if you do not want any type of opposing players or position if you only don't want your offense playing against your defense

  • opposing_play_penalty: if "penalty" is chosen in no_opposing_play option, this penalty is deducted from the objective for each cross-play

  • pick_prices: price points of players you want to force in a comma separated string
    For example, to force two 11.5M forwards, and one 8M midfielder, use "pick_prices": {"G": "", "D": "", "M": "8", "F": "11.5,11.5"}

  • no_gk_rotation_after: use same lineup GK after given GW, e.g. setting this value to 26 means all GWs after 26 will use same lineup GK

  • max_defenders_per_team: the maximum number of defenders and goalkeepers from one team in your squad, defaults to 3

  • double_defense_pick: forces solver to use either 0 or more than 2 defender/goalkeeper from each team

  • transfer_itb_buffer: minimum itb to have if any transfer is being planned for the GW to ensure robustness
    use "transfer_itb_buffer": 0.1 if you want to leave 0.1 in the bank in gameweeks with scheduled transfers

  • iteration: number of different solutions to be generated, the criteria is controlled by iteration_criteria

  • iteration_criteria: rule on separating what a different solution mean

    • this_gw_transfer_in will force to replace players to buy current GW in each solution
    • this_gw_transfer_out will force to replace players to sell current GW in each solution
    • this_gw_transfer_in_out will force to replace players to buy or sell current GW in each solution
    • chip_gws will force to replace GWs where each chip is being used
    • target_gws_transfer_in will force to replace players to buy in target GW (provided by iteration_target parameter)
    • this_gw_lineup will force to replace at least N players in your lineup

  • iteration_difference: number of players to be different (only available for this_gw_lineup criteria for now)

  • iteration_target: list of GWs where plans will be forced to replace in each iteration

  • report_decay_base: list of decay bases to be measured and reported at the end of the solve

  • datasource : review, mikkel or mixed specifies the data to be used.

    • review requires fplreview.csv file
    • review-odds requires fplreview-odds.csv file
    • mikkel requires TransferAlgorithm.csv, file
    • mixed requires an additional parameter data_weights, and any corresponding files mentioned above

    under data folder to be present

  • export_am_ev: option for exporting AM projection from fplreview projection file as data/am_pts.csv

  • data_weights: weight percentage for each data source, given as a dictionary, where keys should be one of valid data sources

  • export_data: option for exporting final data as a CSV file (when using mixed data)

  • team_data: option for using team_id value rather than the team.json file. Uses team.json by default, set value to ID to use team_id. Note that with this method, any transfers already made this gameweek won't be taken into account, so they must be added to booked_transfers

  • team_id: the team_id to optimise for. Requires team_data to be set to ID

  • export_images: option for exporting visualizations of the lineup

  • solve_name: name of the solve, used for naming the output files

  • override_next_gw: the start of the planning horizon -if you need to override for a specific period-

• Run the multi-period optimization

  python solve_regular.py

• Find the optimal plans under data\results directory with timestamp

    > cd ../data/results
    > ls
    regular_2021-11-04_10-00-00.csv
  

Run in Docker

A Dockerised version of the solver is included in this repo which includes all dependencies required to run the program and save results. Docker must be installed on the host machine.

In order to run the solver via Docker, you'll firstly need to follow the instructions in the Installation Steps section to add the following files to the /data folder:

• team.json
• regular_settings.json
• fplreview.csv

Then, to pull the Docker image, build it, and then run the solver, simply run the following command:

> docker-compose up

After the initial setup, re-running this command will skip the pull and build steps and simply run the solver.

Sensitivity Analysis

If you want to run sensitivity analysis, instead of running solve_regular.py,

0. Make sure that data/results directory is empty (doesn't include old files)

1. Run

   python simulations.py

   When called from the terminal, it will ask you to give number of runs (how many times you want to solve), and number of parallel jobs. If you are not sure, use 1 for parallel jobs.

   You can also pass parameters from the command line as

   python simulations.py --no 10 --parallel 4

2. After runs are completed, run

python sensitivity.py

to get a summary of results.

Similarly, you can give gameweek and wildcard parameters from the command line, such as

python sensitivity.py --gw 1 --wildcard Y

License

This project is dual-licensed under the Apache License 2.0 for personal, educational, or non-commercial use, and a Commercial License for commercial entities.

Apache License 2.0 (Non-commercial use)

You may use, view, and modify this project under the terms of the Apache License 2.0, provided that your use is non-commercial. See the LICENSE file for details.

Commercial License (For Business/Commercial Use)

Commercial entities must obtain a Commercial License before accessing, viewing, or using the code for any commercial purposes. Unauthorized access or use by commercial entities without a valid commercial license is strictly prohibited.

To obtain a commercial license, please contact us at [email protected].

Contributor License Agreement

By contributing to this project, you agree that your contributions can be licensed under both the Apache License 2.0 for non-commercial use and the Commercial License for commercial use.