FPL have made huge changes starting this season, double chips, more assists, defensive contributions points and 5 free transfers for AFCON. ⚽
Let's talk about defensive contributions first. How does it work? Why have they made this change? 🤔
Historically, defensive mids have been completely irrelevant in FPL because goal involvements are what you want from mids and forwards. Their ceiling has generally been 2 or 3 points. Defenders have generally been incredibly reliant on clean sheet points as well; we all know the pain of losing a clean sheet and realizing you're likely ending up with 1 or 2 points max. 😩
Defenders, midfielders, and forwards will now earn points from ball recoveries, meaning more points and more ways to score them! 🥅
- Defenders: Will earn two FPL points for every 10 combined clearances, blocks, interceptions, and tackles (CBIT) in a single match, with a maximum of two points per match from this metric.
- Midfielders and Forwards: Will also be rewarded, with "ball recoveries" added to their criteria (CBIRT), but they will need to achieve 12 defensive contributions to earn two FPL points.
So, how would this have affected last season's scoring? This table, courtesy of the Premier League, shows which players would have benefited the most.
- Tarkowski would have scored 44 more points, nudging him from 105 to 149 points.
- Caicedo goes from 98 to 140 points.
- Interestingly, the defensively poor sides do benefit a lot given they're constantly having to try and make defensive contributions to stop the other team. This will be great news for those £4m defenders on our benches that we never want subbed on. Bednarek scored an extra 40 points, Faes an extra 34 points, etc.
To run over that again: any defender who reaches 10 clearances, blocks, interceptions, and tackles in a match will score two FPL points extra. This is similar to how keepers need to reach three saves for an extra point. The notable difference is it's capped at two points per match maximum.
As for mids and forwards, as mentioned, they get extra rewards that defenders aren't eligible for. So besides clearances, blocks, interceptions, and tackles, their ball recoveries also count towards their total. Things like being first to a loose ball, starting a counter-attack, or securing stable possession for their team by making the first controlled pass after a moment where the two sides have fought for the ball. Since they have more routes to points, they need 12 defensive contributions, whereas defenders only need 10 per match.
Here's the top scoring defenders with contribution points added last season.
So what do you think? I'll weigh in and think this is a fantastic change; it opens up our choices so much more now. More points is more fun! I did an April Fool's back in 2023, older subscribers will remember, where I said they were adding a defensive mid position that rewards you for ball recoveries, so it's somewhat similar to that, minus the new position.
It will take some getting used to for sure to assess how viable buying and starting defensive mids are. We may see a shift towards CBs and away from fullbacks which have been traditionally more popular in FPL for their goal threat.
We will now receive two of EVERY chip this season, one for each half of the season. You will have a Wildcard, Free Hit, Triple Captain and Bench Boost chip to use in each half of the campaign, meaning eight chips in total. There will be no Assistant Manager chip in Fantasy this season.
Similarly to the use of the first Wildcard in recent seasons, this first set of chips must be played before the Gameweek 19 deadline passes. They cannot be rolled over into the second half of 2025/26.
The triple captain looks great against the promoted teams, e.g. Saka vs Leeds GW2, Palmer vs Sunderland GW9, Haaland has Burnley, Leeds and Sunderland home in GW6, 13 and 15. Salah has Sunderland (H) in GW14, he'll miss Leeds at Anfield in GW19 to AFCON most likely. The bench boost could work very effectively straight after wildcarding, but if a gameweek pops up where you have a very strong bench don't hesitate. Free Hit could be perfect in a gameweek where the promoted teams/weakest defences are facing teams where you're lacking attackers from, and perhaps if it coincides with your players having a difficulty fixture (e.g. Arsenal vs Liverpool and you've got defenders + attackers from both).
Big changes to assists!
- Intended destination no longer matters when the ball is received inside the box (more assists given)
- If a pass takes two or more defensive touches before reaching a goalscorer, no assist is awarded.
- Defensive errors no longer disqualify assists (except misplaced passes)
- The "forced" element is no longer necessary for assists (e.g. last season Pickford's long ball to Beto, who won a penalty, would now be a Pickford assist)
More assists this season basically.
Extra transfers for AFCON!
The tournament is between GW17-22 (some players might leave before GW16)
Transfer Top-Up: In GW16, our free transfers will be topped up to a maximum of five. This helps to react to early departures and avoid price drops.
To maximize the benefit, FPL managers should aim to have zero free transfers in their bank by the end of Gameweek 15. This would give them a total of five free transfers in Gameweek 16 (one regular + four extra). If you have banked transfers (e.g. three going into GW16), you'll only receive enough to reach the five-transfer cap, missing out on potential extra transfers.
Notable to participate include Salah, Mbeumo, Wissa, Ait-Nouri, Marmoush, Jackson and I.Sarr
The Premier League has announced several changes to the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) for the 2025/26 season, including tweaks to the Bonus Points System (BPS).
Here's a summary of the key changes related to the Bonus Points System:
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Goalkeeper Saves: Goalkeepers will now earn points in the BPS based on the shot location. They will receive three points for saving a shot from inside the penalty area and two points for a save from outside the box. A penalty save will result in an eight-point reduction in the BPS, down from nine previously.
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Goalline Clearances: To emphasize the importance of goalline clearances, a player will now earn nine points in the BPS for such an action, a significant increase from the previous three points.
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Penalty Goals: A new "Penalty goals scored" metric has been introduced. Players will earn 12 points in the BPS for scoring a penalty, regardless of their position. For non-penalty goals, the previous BPS points (24 for forwards, 18 for midfielders, and 12 for defenders) remain unchanged.
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Successful Tackles: The calculation for successful tackles has been simplified. Instead of "Successful Tackles (net)" (tackles won minus tackles lost), each "Tackle Won" in a match will now be rewarded with two BPS points.
See here for more info on all the changes - https://www.premierleague.com/en/news/4362211/all-you-need-to-know-about-changes-to-fantasy-for-202526
FPL is back very soon! See you soon for the next article. 👋