The soccer calendar is busier than ever. It was barely a month ago the Premier League finished their season on an exciting Sunday. From there it was a quick transition to the international competitions. As those conclude, the Olympics will kick off and provide even more exciting soccer. With the nonstop action, it’s easy to miss the fact that the start of the 2021-22 Premier League season is just seven weeks away.

Without missing a beat, the Premier League just kicked off the start of their Fantasy Premier League (FPL) season. Whether the expanded calendar and coverage have brought you to the game for the first time or you are a seasoned FPL veteran, now is the time to get your squad ready for the upcoming season.

First, here’s how to join the World Soccer Talk private league:

1. Visit the Fantasy Premier League site and log in
2. If you’ve never registered before, click the ‘Sign Up’ button,
3. After logging in, select your team (you can always change the team selection later, so don’t worry about finalizing your team right then and there),
4. Click the ‘Leagues’ tab in the top navigation,
5. Click the “Create and join new leagues” button,
6. Click the ‘Join a league’ button,
7. Click ‘Join private league’ button,
6. Enter the code p4vgdk and then click the ‘Join League’ button

Second, for the 2021-22 FPL season, there are no big changes. For those that are new, you will find the format is a little different from traditional fantasy sports. It resembles a hybrid of both daily and season-long formats where players are not limited to one team but scoring is accumulated over the entire 38 Gameweek season.

You begin by selecting 15 players of predetermined value using £100m budget. You can be creative with your squad’s formation but there are a Starting XI and 4 bench spots. If a player in the Starting XI does not play, a player from the bench will fill in that spot. A captain is also selected, and this player will earn double points.

READ MORE: Schedule of Premier League games on US TV and streaming

Lineups and captains are selected each Gameweek. In addition to setting a Starting XI, you can buy and sell players. As the season progresses, the value of any player can go up or down based on their amount of market movement. The more a player is transferred into teams will make their price go up. The opposite is true for players that are sold off squads. This means when you sell a player there is the potential to take a loss or earn a profit. Teams are allowed one free transfer each Gameweek or can roll over one unused free transfer to the next Gameweek. Additional transfers are allowed but will cost a four point deduction from that Gameweek’s score.

In addition to setting lineups and transfers, there are chips that can be used to increase scoring and add roster flexibility. There are four different chips that can be played:

Wildcard: The Wildcard chip allows teams to make an unlimited amount of transfers without taking a points penalty.

Bench Boost: When the Bench Boost chip is played, all scores from players on the bench will also be included for that Gameweek’s total.

Triple Captain: The Triple Captain chip means the player selected as captain will have their point total tripled rather than doubled.

Free Hit: When the Free Hit chip is played, there are unlimited free transfers. However, once the Gameweek is completed the roster returns to the way it was prior to playing the chip.

Once you are signed up, there are numerous ways to compete against others playing FPL. After signing up you will be entered into a couple of different pools:

• All registered teams
• All registered teams from your country
• All registered teams that identify as supporters of the same Premier League club
• Teams that registered in the same Gameweek

In addition to these leagues, there are other private leagues you can join. These can be leagues you set up with a group of friends to compete with. There are also sites or organizations that will organize leagues. In fact, World Soccer Talk has set up a private league (see above for signup information). You will be grouped and competing against fellow readers and writers from the site.

You are allowed to register for up to 25 different private leagues during a season. FPL has also added head-to-head leagues that allow for weekly winners as opposed to a season long accumulation of points.