FPL announce brand new feature that could change fantasy football forever

An exciting new feature is coming to FPL in 2025/26 that will see players rewarded for defensive contributions – and it's going to change the way we play Fantasy Premier League forever.

On Friday morning, FPL announced the much-anticipated introduction of defensive contributions – a new way to score points that will see outfield players awarded extra points for defensive actions in a Premier League match.

For defenders, these actions are clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles. So, when a defender reaches 10 of these defensive actions in a match, they will receive 2 FPL points. Not bad, huh?

For midfielders and forwards, the same actions as clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles apply, but they are also rewarded for recoveries.

Unlike defenders, however, midfielders and forwards will need to get 12 of these defensive actions instead of 10 to receive 2 FPL points. Defensive contribution points are capped at 2 points per match for all players.

How does it work?

As mentioned above, This season, any defender who reaches a combined total of 10 clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles in a single match will score two FPL points.

"It’s similar to the fact that when a goalkeeper makes three saves, they earn an extra one point in Fantasy," says the official FPL website.

"But unlike save points, defensive contribution points will be capped at two points per match, so if a defender makes 20 CBIT in a match, they would still collect just two points, not four – although they might get further rewards through the Bonus Points System."

Which defenders could get the most defensive contribution points in FPL?

The FPL's website has reviewed historical data to highlight which players look set to benefit from the new defensive contribution points – and it appears centre-backs will benefit massively from the new rules.

In fact, all of the top 10 defenders for this statistic in 2024/25 were centre-backs, with Everton's James Tarkowski leading the way on 44 points. He earned defensive contribution points in 22 of his 33 starts for the Toffees, a success rate of 66.7 per cent.

"Tarkowski has been far and away the most reliable backline asset for defensive contribution points (DC) in recent campaigns," the scout added. "Indeed, he would have been the No 1 defender for this metric in each of the last four seasons."

Here's how fans on social media have reacted to the introduction of defensive contribution points.

One said: "Excellent addition. Rewarding defenders but not creating an over-complicated scoring system. Fair play!" and a second wrote: "Finally defensive midfielders won’t be useless."

A third commented: "So midfielders who are good at leading the press playing for high pressing teams will have a slight advantage. On the other hand, defenders who play for teams that sit in deep blocks might have more blocks or clearances but might concede too. Interesting, it’ll be fun."

A fourth wrote: "Let’s gooo, great to see the points scoring system evolve," and a fifth added: "This will shake things up massively and will take some getting used to. Will be a lottery picking some stand out players for these extra points."

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.