The Fantasy Premier League (FPL) introduces several new rules for the upcoming 2025/26 season. In this article, we’ll review these changes and analyze their impact on the game next season.
If you’re new to FPL, take a look at our beginner’s guide first to understand the basics.
Points for defensive contributions
One of the most significant rule changes is the allocation of points for defensive contributions. This topic has been discussed since the FPL was launched. The game has always had a strong bias for attacking players because defensive contributions haven’t been rewarded.
This has made almost every central midfielder (CM) and defensive midfielder (DM) worthless. It has also driven FPL managers to choose full-backs and wing-backs (RB, LB, RWB, LWB) over more defensive-minded central defenders (CB).
FPL is finally taking action on this. The game introduces defensive contribution points for the 2025/26 season. Defenders, midfielders, and forwards can now earn two additional FPL points for defensive actions in a single match.
- Defenders: Earn 2 points for achieving 10 combined clearances, blocks, interceptions, and tackles (CBIT).
- Midfielders and Forwards: Earn 2 points for achieving 12 combined clearances, blocks, interceptions, tackles, and ball recoveries (CBIRT).
Even if attacking players can also achieve these points, most players never accumulate enough defensive actions to reach the threshold for 2 points.
Two points might sound a little, but this is how many extra points the best defenders would have earned last season:
- James Tarkowski (CB), Everton: 44 points
- Moises Caiceido (DM), Chelsea: 42 points
- Jan Bednarek (CB), Southampton: 40 points
These are interesting examples, because Jan Bednarek is a centre-back of by far the weakest team in the Premier League. However, these contributions might have made him a viable option as a budget defender.
Moises Caiceido is a good example of a defensive midfielder that no FPL manager would have chosen last season. But now he might be well worth it if the price stays around 5.0 million compared to more attacking midfielders of the same price.
Two sets of chips
The second significant rule change is about FPL chips. Chips are special actions or boosts that each FPL manager can use during the season. The chips are:
- The Wildcard: Allows you to make unlimited changes without penalties
- The Triple Captain: Gives your Captain 3x points instead of the usual 2x
- Free Hit: Allows you to make unlimited changes without penalties, but these changes last just one round
- Bench Boost: Gives points to your benched players the same way as the players in the starting XI
FPL introduced the Assistant Manager chip for the 2024/25 season, but it seems like this chip won’t be used again. It received a lot of negative feedback from FPL managers.
So, what is the rule change? Previously, you could only use each chip once, except for the Wildcard. There was one Wildcard for the first half of the season (gameweeks 1 to 19) and another one could be used in the second half of the season (gameweeks 20 to 38). In the 2025/26 season, this applies to all chips.
It means that there will be Wildcard, Free Hit, Triple Captain, and Bench Boost for the gameweeks 1 to 19 and the gameweeks 20 to 38.
More fantasy assists
A fantasy assist is awarded to the player who makes the final attacking action leading to a goal in the Fantasy Premier League. This is usually a pass, shot, or touch that directly assists the goalscorer, earning the assisting player three FPL points. Assists are also awarded for winning penalties or free kicks that result in goals.
Starting in the 2025/26 season, the definition of a fantasy assist will be simplified to reflect real contributions on the pitch better and reduce guesswork for FPL managers. The most significant change is that the intended destination of a pass will no longer matter.
Previously, if a pass was deflected and went to a different teammate than planned, no assist was awarded. This often led to frustrating situations where players who influenced a goal didn’t receive any points.
Under the new rule, a Fantasy assist will be awarded if the goalscorer receives the ball inside the penalty box after no more than one defensive touch — even if the ball took a deflection or wasn’t meant for that player. However, there’s no assist if the defender makes a deliberate pass, or if there are two or more defensive touches.
Additionally, a player will now be credited with an assist for winning a handball free-kick or penalty, without the need to prove the handball was “forced.” These changes mean more attacking players will get the points they deserve, making FPL fairer and more enjoyable.
Extra transfers for AFCON
To help Fantasy Premier League managers prepare for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), five free transfers will be granted in Gameweek 16 of the 2025/26 season. AFCON runs from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026, affecting Premier League Gameweeks 17 to 22.
As some players may leave early to join their national teams, FPL managers will receive a transfer boost ahead of time to manage their squads.
These transfers enable early replacements of players such as Mohamed Salah, Bryan Mbeumo, Nicolas Jackson, and others who are likely to feature in the tournament. The key is to go into Gameweek 16 with zero free transfers saved, as your total will be topped up to five. If you already have multiple transfers in the bank, you’ll receive fewer additional ones.
This rule provides managers with more flexibility and helps prevent price drops by allowing for timely squad adjustments before AFCON impacts lineups.
Tweaks in the bonus point calculations
For the 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League season, the Bonus Points System (BPS) has been updated to more fairly reward key in-game actions. The BPS ranks player performances using Opta stats, and the top three players in each match receive bonus points: three, two, and one. Ties are now split more generously—for example, a tie for first gives both players three points.
Several stat categories have been adjusted. Goalkeeper saves now depend on shot location: three BPS points are awarded for saves from inside the box, and two for those from outside. Penalty saves now give eight BPS points (down from nine), but when combined with the shot location, can still total 11 BPS.
Goalline clearances are now worth nine BPS points, up from just three last season. Penalty goals have also been standardized to 12 BPS points for all positions, replacing the previous system that favored strikers. Lastly, successful tackles are now rewarded per “Tackle Won” instead of a net calculation, giving two BPS per successful challenge.
New Pro Leagues
Lastly, two exclusive new leagues have been introduced to reward top-performing managers: the top 1% League and the top 10% League. These are global competitions designed to bring together elite FPL players based on last season’s final rankings.
If you finished in the top 114,319 out of 11.43 million verified teams last season, you’ve qualified for the top 1% League. A finish inside the top 1,143,193 places earns you a spot in the top 10% League. These leagues will automatically appear under “General Leagues” when you log in this season.
Note: if you followed our FPL tips that are done using our FPL Fixture Difficulty tool, you should have easily finished in the top 10 %! Our team finished OR 477K. Join the Allfantasytips FPL league to follow our progress and try to beat our team!
Qualifying is an achievement, and it’s worth celebrating—especially with bragging rights over your mini-league rivals.
Winners of these leagues won’t just earn recognition. Prizes include official Puma Premier League balls, replica shirts, EA SPORTS FC games, FPL merchandise bundles, and a certificate marking your success. Perform well this season to qualify again next year!
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