How social media sleuths used fantasy football clues to leak Chelsea team news

Fantasy football accounts decoded Chelsea's team news before official announcement by tracking FPL transfers and betting odds, revealing Joao Pedro's absence hours early.

Social media sleuths used fantasy football clues to leak Chelsea's team news ahead of Saturday's Premier League match against Tottenham. Accounts monitoring betting odds noticed Chelsea's win probability dropping from 10am, while fantasy football analysts spotted suspicious activity in the FPL teams of people linked to the Chelsea dressing room—staff members benching or transferring out Joao Pedro, one family member even replacing him with Aston Villa's Nicolas Jackson.

The detective work proved accurate: Joao Pedro was absent from the official squad announcement at 3:15pm, over an hour before kick-off, after not being spotted boarding the team bus. Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso, known for keeping team news tightly under wraps, did not comment on the leak. Tottenham also declined to say whether they were aware of the social media developments.

The incident highlights a recurring problem in the Premier League, where fantasy football leaks have given unfair advantages to engaged FPL managers. The issue became so prevalent that the FPL moved its weekly transfer deadline back by 30 minutes five years ago to combat early leaks, following a 2020/21 incident at Aston Villa when an account posted that five people inside the dressing room—including first-team players and a physio—had transferred Jack Grealish out of their teams.