Picture your fantasy football lineup.

Quarterback. Running back. Wide receiver. Tight end. Sometimes a defense.

Different positions, different jobs and completely different ways to win your week.

Fantasy Premier League (FPL) works similarly. Your squad is divided into four positions: goalkeeper (GK), defender (DEF), midfielder (MID) and forward (FWD). The major difference is how much each position can contribute to your overall score. In fantasy football, most of your attention probably goes toward quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, and that ever-important flex spot. In FPL, all four positions have legitimate gameweek winning potential.

Ignore one of them, and eventually you'll notice.

More importantly, each position has a different path to fantasy points. Understanding those differences will help you decide not only which players you want, but where your money is best spent.

Let's go position by position.

Fantasy Premier League Positions Explained

Goalkeepers: The Underrated Set-and-Forget Position

Quick gut check. When was the last time you spent hours thinking about your fantasy football kicker?

That's roughly how much attention many new FPL managers give their goalkeeper. Pick one, throw him into the lineup, and start looking at the exciting players.

That's a mistake.

Goalkeepers can earn points through clean sheets and saves, with additional opportunities coming through bonus points and penalty saves. Every once in a while, your goalkeeper will save a penalty and suddenly become your favorite player in the Premier League for the afternoon.

The interesting part is that goalkeeper selection presents you with two very different ways of finding points.

A goalkeeper playing behind a weaker defense will probably face more shots. More shots mean more opportunities for saves, but unfortunately, they also mean more opportunities to concede goals. On the other hand, a goalkeeper behind one of the Premier League's strongest defenses may spend large parts of the match doing very little. He won't pile up saves, but his chances of walking away with a clean sheet are much higher.

Save Volume vs. Clean Sheet Upside

So, what are you looking for?

Save opportunities? Clean sheet potential? Ideally, you're looking for a goalkeeper capable of giving you a little bit of both.

For fantasy football managers, I would approach a goalkeeper somewhat like a kicker or a defense. Don't automatically spend big because you recognize the name or the badge on his shirt. Look at the situation around him, decide whether the price makes sense, and find someone you can trust.

A goalkeeper doesn't always need to be exciting.

Sometimes boring is exactly what you want.

Defenders: Not Just Your Defense Anymore

In fantasy football, your defense is usually one unit. You start the Ravens defense, Steelers defense or whoever has the matchup you like, get one score from the entire unit and move on with your life.

FPL takes that concept and completely changes it.

Instead of selecting an entire team's defense, you're selecting individual defenders. Each one earns his own points and, more importantly, each one can offer you something completely different.

That's one of the biggest adjustments fantasy football managers have to make when they start playing FPL. Defenders aren't simply there to fill out your lineup. The right ones can become some of the best value in your entire squad.

Clean Sheets Are Just the Floor

Clean sheets are the obvious starting point. As we covered in the glossary, a clean sheet means your defender's team didn't concede a goal. If your defender plays enough minutes to qualify and his team keeps the opponent off the scoresheet, you've already put yourself in a good position for fantasy points.

But here's where defenders become much more interesting.

They can attack too.

Attacking Defenders and the Path to a Haul

Some defenders spend most of their match protecting their own goal. Others constantly push forward, overlap with attacking players, cross the ball into dangerous areas, or get involved with corners and free kicks. Big center backs also become legitimate scoring threats from set pieces, especially corners, because their size gives them an advantage in the air.

Now you're not just asking whether Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester City can keep a clean sheet. You're asking what that individual defender can offer you on top of it.

Think about the difference between a defender who only gives you defensive production and one who can give you defensive production while also creating goals and assists.

One gives you a floor.

The other potentially gives you the floor and the ceiling.

Those are the defenders fantasy managers love.

A clean sheet is great. A clean sheet with an assist or goal attached to it?

Now we're talking about a haul.

Midfielders: Your "Do-Everything" Position

If there's one position where new FPL managers are going to spend a lot of their time, it's midfield.

You carry five midfielders, and the position includes some of the most productive fantasy players in the entire game. It also includes players with completely different responsibilities, which is where things become interesting.

One midfielder might spend most of the match sitting deeper on the pitch, protecting his defense and winning possession. Another might be listed as a midfielder in FPL but spends most of his afternoon attacking the opponent's goal.

Same position on your fantasy team.

Completely different job on the pitch.

That's why you can't evaluate midfielders solely by the MID next to their name. You need to understand what they're actually being asked to do.

Why Role on the Pitch Matters More Than the MID Label

For fantasy football players, think of midfield as something close to combining your wide receiver room with your flex position. You've got highlight-reel stars capable of winning a gameweek almost on their own, dependable players who consistently produce, and cheaper options that can suddenly become incredible value when their role changes.

This is also where FPL scoring starts making certain players particularly interesting.

How Midfielders Score (Goals, Assists, and DEFCON)

Midfielders can earn points through goals and assists, but they receive more points for scoring a goal than forwards. They can also earn a point when their team keeps a clean sheet. Add bonus points and potential defensive contribution points, commonly called DEFCON, and certain midfielders suddenly have several different paths to fantasy production.

But not every midfielder is created equal.

A defensive midfielder might be one of the most important players on his actual Premier League team while offering limited fantasy upside. An attacking midfielder playing closer to goal might be far more interesting to us, even if both players are listed at the same position.

So, when you're looking at midfielders, don't just ask whether the player is good.

Ask where he plays.

Ask how involved he is in the attack.

Ask whether he's creating chances, taking shots or getting into the penalty area.

That's where the fantasy value starts showing up.

Build your midfield correctly, and it can become the engine of your entire FPL squad.

Forwards: Goals Change Everything

Forwards are probably the easiest position for a new fantasy manager to understand.

Their primary job is to score goals.

Simple enough.

And because goals are such an important source of fantasy points, forwards can produce some enormous gameweeks.

They can also drive you absolutely crazy.

You know the scenario. Your forward hasn't scored in three matches, but the underlying numbers look good, and the matchup looks even better. You keep telling yourself, "This is the week."

Nothing.

Another gameweek passes.

Now you're hovering over the transfer button, finally ready to get rid of him.

Naturally, he scores twice on Saturday, grabs the bonus points and suddenly everyone who kept him looks like a genius.

Fantasy football managers already know that feeling.

It's akin to owning a boom-or-bust wide receiver who gives you four points one Sunday and 28 the next. The potential is always there. The difficult part is deciding how long to wait for production.

That's why opportunity matters so much when evaluating forwards.

Is he starting every match? Is his team creating chances? Is he actually getting shots inside the penalty area? Is he getting good scoring opportunities, or are most of his shots coming from 30 yards away?

Why Penalty Takers Are Worth More

And then there's one of my favorite questions to ask about any fantasy forward:

Does he take penalties?

Penalty takers immediately become more interesting because they have another opportunity to score goals. If two forwards are relatively similar in price, playing time and attacking potential, but one takes his team's penalties, that responsibility can make a significant difference over the course of a season.

Don't just look at how many goals a forward scored last week.

Look at how many opportunities he's getting to score the next one.

How the Positions Work Together

Here's the part new managers tend to underestimate.

FPL isn't four separate mini-games. You're building one squad, and every decision you make at one position affects what you can do somewhere else.

Want two premium forwards? Great. Where are you saving money? Want a midfield filled with expensive attacking players? Something else probably has to give.

Maybe you spend less on a goalkeeper. Maybe you've identified value in defense. Maybe your third forward becomes a cheaper option because you're confident the rest of your starting lineup can make up the difference.

This is where FPL team building becomes much more strategic than simply choosing your favorite players.

The question isn't only, "Is he good?"

The better question is, "Is this where I want to spend my money?"

Sometimes the answer is midfield because that's where you've identified the most reliable production. Sometimes an upcoming run of favorable fixtures makes investing in defenders more attractive. Other times, one forward is in such ridiculous form that you're willing to rearrange half your squad to get him.

Your budget forces you to make those choices.

That's a good thing.

If everyone could buy the most expensive player at every position, there wouldn't be much strategy involved.

Building the Full Squad

Four positions. Four different jobs. One squad that somehow has to make all of them work together.

Goalkeepers will reward patience and consistency. Defenders can give you points at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders offer versatility and multiple paths to production. Forwards give you goals and, occasionally, the emotional roller coaster that comes with the wait for production.

As a fantasy football player, none of those decisions should feel completely foreign.

You've been making similar tradeoffs for years. Do you draft early on a running back or wait for value? Do you grab an elite quarterback or use that pick somewhere else? Do you chase the player with massive upside or take the one who gives you a reliable floor every week?

FPL asks many of the same questions. The positions have different names and different ways of scoring points.

Instead of evaluating a backfield, you're learning about the back four. Instead of analyzing a receiving corps, you're studying a midfield. And instead of wondering whether your WR1 is finally going to find the end zone on Sunday, you'll find yourself watching a Premier League match on Saturday morning wondering whether your forward can finally put one in the back of the net.

Same instincts.

New positions.

Now you know what you're actually looking for when you start filling out that squad.

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Scott Hartwyk is a Soccer Analyst & FPL expert for Optimus Fantasy