The value function is crucial, sure. But back testing over a couple seasons I can usually land on something much better than what I as a (usually pretty casual) fan has in my head.

From an automation perspective the harder problem is getting match day squad selections (some sports regularly announce last minute teams, like at the time of the toss) and accounting for whatever special cases the game rules have tossed in (e.g. select a captain and vc, special reduced fees on trades this round, etc).

And to really win these games, rather say just beating your friends and landing top 5% globally, you also need risk management and portfolio optimisation strategies: e.g. when to play your "captain scores double this round" card? everyone has Mbappe, do you also pick him to hedge your riskier picks? I have no doubt that some players have built all this automation but I sure haven't.