The Rule That Changed Was The One Nobody Read
Bonus moved. Defensive contribution did not.
Most of the pre-season noise since June has been about defensive contribution. All of it about a rule that did not change.
Defensive contribution is identical for 2026-27. Ten clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles in a match, the bundle FPL calls CBIT, still earns a defender two points. A midfielder or forward still needs twelve, with ball recoveries added.
The rule that did move is the Bonus Points System, retuned in FPL's own words "to reduce overlap with defensive contribution points", improving bonus prospects for goalkeepers, full-backs and attacking players. Almost nobody drafts for bonus. Last season it paid a centre-back twice for the same clearances, once in defensive contribution and again in bonus. That double count is what FPL has trimmed.
The trim is small. Clearances, blocks and interceptions now earn one bonus point per three rather than one per two, and players are no longer docked for being tackled. Nobody can say what that adds up to over a season, and last season's best defensive scorers were still defenders and holding midfielders. Treat it as a tiebreaker, not a reason to rebuild.
So look at who FPL named. You already spend on attackers, which leaves the two positions you fill last and think about least. Start at the bottom of your team sheet.
On Tottenham, the crowd has this right. Kinsky at £4.5m is a contracted, publicly anointed number one on 19.2%, and Dubravka at £4.0m is as cheap as a keeper gets, the correct bench filler on 23.3%. That is textbook squad construction, not the mistake an ownership table makes it look.
Raya at £6.0m is the only goalkeeper at that price, with 63 priced below him. He scored 162 points last season, 19 clear of Kelleher in second, behind an Arsenal defence that conceded 27 goals, eight fewer than anyone else. Pay up for Raya: the retune explicitly improves goalkeeper bonus, and the league's best defence is where that lands.
The counter is fair. £1.5m saved on a £4.5m keeper is real money when the £7.0m to £8.5m band is this stacked, and Kinsky is genuinely nailed on. Raya has also not played a pre-season minute, so check he is named.
Then apply the same test to your defence. At equal price, take the attacking full-back over the stay-at-home centre-back. The full-back now has two ways to score, the assist and the widened bonus. The centre-back has one, and it did not improve. Porro at £5.5m is the obvious example, though his two assists undersold how often he created, and he reported back late from the World Cup, so check he starts. Prices are frozen until the deadline, so thinking costs nothing.
Stat of the Week
Not one defender at Coventry, Hull or Ipswich costs more than the £4.0m floor. All 27 sit at the bottom of the price list, in the second season of defensive contribution points, at three clubs who will spend a lot of the season defending.
The crowd has found some already: Diop at Ipswich is 19.1% owned, van Ewijk at Coventry 15.9%. The pick is Bobby Thomas, Coventry's centre-back, on 8.7%: three goals and four assists last season with 8.6 defensive actions per 90, the best attacking output of any Championship centre-back. Your fifth defender should not be a blank.
Games Corner
Twelve days of waiting is a lot of waiting. Two daily puzzles to fill it.
Who Played With? #58 opens in Spain: our mystery man shared a dressing room with Portugal's William Carvalho at Real Betis in 2023. Six clues, and the fewer you burn the better your score.
Career Path #57 starts a very long way from the Premier League, at Cobreloa in 2005. Follow the moves and name him.
Both reset at midnight and both track streaks, so a skipped day costs more than a wrong guess.