Fantasy Premier League: Analysing the major rule changes to the game for the 2025-26 season

New York Times

6 days ago

It's Fantasy Premier League, but perhaps not as you know it.
On Friday, the makers of everyone's favourite Premier League companion game announced two pretty major changes to the rules for the 2025-26 season, which will almost certainly affect strategies across the board.
The first is that outfield players can now be rewarded with two FPL points for 'defensive contributions'.
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Defenders who reach a combined total of 10 clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles (known as CBIT) in a single match will score two points, as will midfielders and forwards who reach 12 CBIT points – but in addition, they can also rack these up via 'ball recoveries'.
The second major change is that FPL users will now have access to two super-powered sets of chips: the Wildcard, Free Hit, Triple Captain and Bench Boost.
The initial four chips must be used before the Gameweek 19 deadline on December 30, 2025, and cannot be carried over into the second half of the season.
Here, our FPL experts Holly Shand and Abdul Rehman explore how these rule changes may impact the game and how you can take advantage of the new status quo.
Holly: Doubling the number of chips for the season has definitely caught my eye and left me feeling excited about the season ahead.
As an engaged manager, in the past I have often felt restricted by having to save chips for the second half of the season, where we typically see more blanks and double gameweeks — these have traditionally been the best time to use these chips 'on paper'. This time around, we will have an opportunity to use the our chips in the first half of the season, with the freedom to go on instinct and gut feeling, and without being punished in the second half of the campaign.
Since the introduction of the chips in 2015-16, they have been the most exciting part of the game, with the power to make or break your season, and so to have those opportunities doubled provides plenty of hope. I think it will also encourage a greater variety of strategies and team differences, which is only a good thing in my eyes.
Abdul: The double set of chips for sure. I am all for any changes that make the game more fun but at the same time, don't change the core scoring in the game. Having more chips means we don't need to wait until the second half of the season to use them around doubles and blanks. We can have a bit of fun using them in single weeks and chase upside. It also means more varied strategies which is a great thing.
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Of course, we were free to use the chips in the first half of the season before but you would have to get quite lucky to outscore those managers using it around double and blank gameweeks.
I think this will also keep more FPL managers engaged for longer, which is probably why they have introduced the change.
Holly: We often see players new to the game using chips in the opening gameweeks of the season without realising their worth later in the campaign, and then being punished for this lack of knowledge.
These changes will allow them to remain on an even keel with more experienced managers in the long term, instead of dropping off. As a content creator in FPL, a strong start is definitely helpful and so I'm absolutely open to using the chips early, too.
Bench Boost has plenty of constraints on your team and could be something best played in Gameweek 1 or shortly after your first Wildcard. I'll personally be waiting to gather information on the worst defences in the league before committing to using a Triple Captain chip in the first half of the season, but it will likely be used on one of the big premium players like Erling Haaland or Mohamed Salah.
Free Hit can be used as a 'get out of jail free card' if injuries or suspensions leave your team in bad shape, or alternatively could be used to attack a gameweek with alternative picks when you have lots of players facing each other in your main squad.
Abdul: I don't think it will change much for the second half of the season as it will still be optimal to use them around blanks and doubles — but it will mean planning more meticulously in the first half of the season now.
A Bench Boost in Gameweek 1 becomes much more viable as you can set your team up for an early wildcard afterwards and get that chip 'out of the way'. You are effectively wildcarding in Gameweek 1, so it's not a bad time to play it at all now that we have another available to us.
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Triple Captain and Free Hit can be used on a whim for as and when your team needs, and there will be less need for long-term strategy as we are not planning for doubles and blanks. The Free Hit might come in really handy actually, with so many teams competing in Europe and with the extra games.
Having two sets of chips might even encourage FPL managers to be a bit more maverick with their first ones. Chasing differentials and unconventional times to use the chip is a lot easier when you know you have another set to use in the second half of the season.
Holly: The removal of the Assistant Manager chip is another major positive for me, as the introduction of this chip in the 2024-25 season felt flawed on a number of levels.
For starters, it felt far too complicated for casual managers to understand and the one-chip-per-gameweek rule will have caught many out. In addition, the chip had too much power in the game, with massive swings of 50-plus points if activated to perfection, which could cause a huge swing in overall rank and mini leagues come the end of the season.
It was also frustrating to spend half the season looking at a 'Mystery Chip' with no idea of what it was or what it would do, and how that could impact strategy later in the season and so avoiding that eventuality is another positive in my book.
Abdul: I enjoyed the Assistant Manager chip from a selfish point of view, simply because I gained around 45 points from it. But from a game-state perspective, I think it was the right decision to remove it from the game as it was too powerful.
I also feel it was maybe a bit too complicated for the average manager to take advantage of it. It really advantaged the hardcore managers who were able to research the best time to use it.
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There should be a nice balance of luck and skill in FPL, and at the moment, I think they have it right, even with the two sets of chips. The Assistant Manager chip tipped it too much into the luck category due to how the scoring was structured. You could literally come away with zero points while others were getting near 50.
Holly: The introduction of defensive contribution points brings FPL in line with other popular fantasy games that we've seen from alternative providers, and those from major international tournaments.
I'm not surprised of its inclusion given that it's been something well discussed in the FPL community for many years. I'm a little sceptical of the form in which it's been introduced, with a variety of actions all being pooled together in one metric known as clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles (CBIT) for defenders, and then ball recoveries also for attacking players — it might have been neater to have those actions counting individually.
It will change the way FPL managers watch games and scout players, and there will almost certainly be some frustrations along the way of exactly which actions are credited towards the tally of 10 or 12 respectively to activate the two point bonus.
Brand new for the 2025/26 season 🤩
Introducing defensive contribution points 🛡️#FPL pic.twitter.com/LAseSwN2DO
— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) July 18, 2025
Abdul: I am not a big fan of the points for defensive contributions. There is only an extra two points on offer per game and player, so it's not overpowered and won't cause a huge shift in the viable player pool.
However, the reason I love FPL is due to its simplicity and this change is leading towards taking that out of the game. I am not totally against it though, and I'm willing to see how it goes this season.
Also, there is already at least one controversy per gameweek as to what counts as an assist according to the game's rules, which can cause frustrating changes to points scored.
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It feels like this is going to cause similar issues in terms of what constitutes as a block, clearance, tackle etc.
It's fun watching your FPL players and cheering them to score or assist. I am not sure I want to be sitting there counting how many tackles or interceptions they have made.
Holly: Without the context of player prices, it's hard to categorically say how the new defensive contribution points will impact team construction. If player prices stay widely similar to the past, then I don't think it will have a big impact in terms of team construction, but it will give certain players more utility.
Traditionally, we've always targeted attacking full-backs in FPL but centre-backs will now carry more appeal. We've also tried to avoid defenders from newly promoted teams or against tough opposition, but both of these situations invite pressure on defences which could allow centre-backs to rack up CBIT actions more frequently. We may also choose a fifth midfielder differently, with holding midfield players also rewarded in this system.
Abdul: I think it will impact our defence a lot more than the attack. The likes of James Tarkowski and other similar cheaper centre-backs will become more popular. Choosing players who play 90 minutes will be even more important now, with full-backs getting subbed off much more often than centre-backs.
They also generally make more blocks, interceptions and tackles, although there definitely will be some full-backs who will breach the threshold regularly but that will become more apparent once the season kicks off.
For the attack, I reckon it only really makes a difference to our fifth or possibly fourth midfielder. We are still going to pick the likes of Mohamed Salah, Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka etc. However, when it comes to the cheaper mids at £5.0m and below, defensive contributions will become a lot more important.
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Holly: My thoughts immediately went to attack-minded forwards and midfielders who press for their team and get involved in defensive actions too, with Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes immediately on my radar.
I think he could be set for a deeper role this season, especially with the expected arrival of Bryan Mbeumo in the summer transfer window to follow that of Matheus Cunha.
I'll also be keeping a close eye on the prices of Arsenal's Declan Rice and Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez, who are no strangers to attacking returns and have some set-piece involvement, while also providing plenty of defensive contributions. Backing assets who play 90 minutes regularly could be an important consideration.
When it comes to defenders, centre-backs from defences who typically don't have plenty of possession fit the bill — we know that Everton's Tarkowski was the top performer in this metric last season. There may also be merit to picking central defenders from those sides who keep consistent clean sheets, like Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk and Arsenal's Gabriel.
Abdul: The official FPL X page put out a graphic showing the defenders and midfielders who would have picked up the most points from the defensive contributions last season. Tarkowski, Jan Bednarek and Dean Huijsen (all centre-backs) led the way, so the Everton man is definitely on my radar.
David Moyes' team are a solid defensive side and will pick up a fair few clean sheets. Tarkowski is nailed to start, plays 90 minutes and has a bit of goal threat too.
James Tarkowski tops the charts 📊
No defender would have picked up as many defensive contribution points as the Everton defender if they were available in FPL last season 🔵#FPL pic.twitter.com/c5yQS9QeUT
— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) July 18, 2025
Moses Caicedo would have picked up the most defensive contribution points among midfielders, followed by Elliot Andersen and Joao Gomes.
Moises Caicedo would have picked up the most defensive contribution points among midfielders last season 👊
With the new defensive contributions points coming in 2025/26, will any of these players be in your squad? 👀#FPL pic.twitter.com/qjP2bg51qP
— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) July 18, 2025
Caicedo picked up an extra 42 points, which is quite significant, so his price is something I will be keeping an eye on. Also, defensive midfielders like Rice, Rodri, Bruno Guimaraes and Fernandez might be interesting, too. They all have a fair bit of attacking threat.
Manchester United's Fernandes could be the one who benefits the most from this. We all know he's one of the most nailed players in the league and on penalties, but he's also really involved and played deep quite a lot last season.
Overall though, a fair bit of research is still needed pre-season to try and find those gems before the pack.