FPL chaos leaves fans sweating on eve of new Premier League season

Fantasy Premier League fans were left scratching their heads on Thursday evening when the website's servers crashed. The popular game is played by millions of fans worldwide and is set to get underway this week when the Premier League returns.

Fans trying to access the website or mobile app were met with a message that read: "Sorry but there has been an unexpected error processing your request. You can return to the home page and try again or contact us for further help." It was first reported in the early evening and remained inaccessible through the night.

Fans were alerted to the issue while trying to update their teams ahead of the new season. Posting on X, @FPLRichy said: "Trouble at FPL Towers. Looks like the Fantasy Premier League servers are down... lots of people unable to get onto FPL on the app or website!"

@FPLBateman added: "FPL's site is still down & there's only two days, 20 hours & 34 minutes until the GW1 deadline & I've captained James Maddison," a reference to the Tottenham Hotspur ace's recent ACL injury.

It's set to be a big year for the game, given that several changes are being introduced to the point scoring format. Defensive contributions have been given a refresh, with defenders awarded points for reaching a total of 10 clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles per match.

For midfielders and forwards, they'll also be given points for the aforementioned contributions, while also being awarded for ball recoveries. Meanwhile, players will also be given two sets of chips to use throughout the season, allowing for wildcards, free hits, triple captains and bench boosts to be used twice.

Managers will get their first chance to score points on Friday when Liverpool open the campaign at Anfield against Bournemouth. After a summer of heavy spending, including big-money deals for Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and ex-Cherries ace Milos Kerkez, plenty of players have included Liverpool stars in their teams.

There will also be eyes on Old Trafford later in the weekend, given two of this season's most picked players are in action against each other. Manchester United welcomed Benjamin Sesko to the club, while Sunday's opponents, Arsenal, spent big on Viktor Gyokeres.