Fantasy Football: Lumara Insurance’s Mark Greig Q&A

Following the last of 2025’s international breaks, the Premier League returns this weekend, kicking off with Chelsea’s visit to Burnley tomorrow at 12.30. 

That also means the Insurance Times Fantasy Football League is back, with managers having until 11am tomorrow morning to lock in their teams for gameweek 12. 

Before all that, however, Insurance Times thought it would speak to league high flier Mark Greig, underwriting manager at recently launched MGA Lumara Insurance.

Greig sits in fourth on 734 points, 11 points below league leader Archie Taylor-Salmon and 10 points ahead of Insurance Times’ very own Harry McNeil, who sits in seventh. 

1.  Congrats on being fourth in the league for GW11, how do you rate your chances of staying there for the season?

Good question! What I’ve learnt from playing Fantasy Football over the years is that so much can change – and very quickly.

Who you captain each week and playing the chips at the right time are key, especially this season, as managers can play all chips twice – if I do that well, I should be in a good position. 

Also, avoid the temptation to take hits as much as possible when making transfers. There’s always a fair amount of luck involved too – some weeks your team looks great and doesn’t perform, other weeks, like recently, Haaland scores two goals in injury time when he’s your triple captain.

There can be very small margins between success and struggling!

2. What are the key decisions to make ahead of GW12?

Having a number of international breaks at the start of the season can be disruptive and the latest one has produced some tough decisions on the injury front – the likes of Gabriel and Semenyo, who are consistent point scorers, are doubts when they have been in my team a lot of times so far.

For me, the question is whether it is the right time to play the wildcard. Liverpool have been struggling but have a good run of fixtures coming up.

However, trying to get Salah and Haaland in your team is tricky and takes up a lot of budget! If Gabriel is out for a while, Munoz, Senesi, Van Dijk and O’Reilly look strong alternative options.

3. Who would you call out as an under-rated player for everyone’s Fantasy squad?

Bournemouth’s Senesi and Palace’s Richards for sure – they have achieved defensive contribution points in most premier league games so far and are cheaper defensive options.

On the attacking side, a differential pick could be Thiago from Brentford, who is only £6.3m yet has produced 13 points in his last game week while being productive in over half of the games so far this season.

4. Who or what would you like to call out in the insurance industry?

I’d like to call out the balance the insurance industry is trying to strike between technology and human expertise.

There’s no doubt AI and digital tools are transforming how we assess risk and handle claims, but I think it’s equally important not to lose sight of the value that experienced people bring – the judgement, context and client relationships that no algorithm can replicate.

The challenge for the industry is finding the right blend, so we get the efficiencies of technology while still maintaining the trust and insight that only people can provide.