FPL 2025/26: What are the new rules in Fantasy Premier League? | OneFootball

The new season of the English top flight is rapidly approaching, and with that comes the long-awaited return of Fantasy Premier League.

With pre-season giving us a glimpse of potential top performers, many players will have already picked their squads for the opening gameweek of the 2025/26 campaign, though even at this stage, new signings and potential injuries might change things.

But as we head into GW1, it won’t all be familiar territory for even the most seasoned of FPL players, with the gamemakers throwing in a handful of new rules to wrap our heads around.

Pay attention, these changes could prove the decisive in racking up enough points to emerge victorious in your mini-leagues.

Here’s everything you need to know about the FPL 2025/26 rule changes.

Defensive contributions

Outfield players will now be able to acquire invaluable Fantasy points through their defensive contributions.

This season, any defender who reaches a combined total of 10 clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles (CBIT) in a single match will score two extra FPL points.

As for midfielders and forwards, they will also be rewarded for ball recoveries in addition to clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles (CBIRT), all counting towards their total defensive contributions. This means they will have to make 12 defensive contributions to earn their two FPL points, instead of the 10 required for defenders.

Changes to assists rules

Fantasy assists are often awarded to the player from the scoring team who has the final touch before a goal is converted, awarding said player three points. This season, what counts as an assist has been simplified further.

This has been done recognise players for their contributions towards goal as well as to reduce the degree of subjectivity involved in deciphering an assist.

One of the key changes here will see intended destination no longer become a factor, providing it meets the two criteria of: the goalscorer receiving the ball inside the penalty box, and there only being one defensive touch before the ball reaches the goalscorer. This means that even if a pass or cross is deflected into the path of a completely different player - reaching an unintended destination - if he scores, the passer will still get rewarded with three big fat points for the assist.

However, there are caveats. No assist will be awarded if the defensive touch is a pass - such as a loose backpass - or if the goalscorer loses and then regains possession. Two defensive touches will also mean the assist is not given. And if the goalscorer receives the ball outside the box, intended destination comes back into play, with a judgement being made about whether they were the target of the pass.

Elsewhere, an assist will now be given for one particular defensive error: if the defending player is attempting a pass. Again, there can only be a maximum of one defensive touch in the attempted pass for the assist to be given.

There is also a change in assist rules surrounding handballs. If a goal is scored from a free-kick or penalty conceded from a handball, an assist will go to the player who made the last attacking action prior to the handball being awarded. Crucially, the handball no longer needs to have been “forced” for the assist to be awarded. That said, if the handball follows a touch from another defensive player, no assist will be given.

Fans will have to contend with a number of new rules in FPL this season (Fantasy Premier League)

Two sets of chips

Fantasy managers will be more than aware of the four chips that can bring about a huge points boost if used widely. These are Wildcard, Free Hit, Triple Captain and Bench Boost.

Well now, you’ll have TWO sets of chips for the season, to be played in each half of the season.

The first set of chips must be played before the GW19 deadline passes at 6:30pm GMT on Tuesday 30 December, with it not possible for chips to be carried over into the second half of 2025/26.

However, you may notice the absence of a certain chip from last season...

There will be no Assistant Manager chip in FPL this season.

This chip, introduced last season, allowed players to earn points based on the performance of a chosen Premier League manager over a three-Gameweek period.

But after just one campaign, it’s been scrapped.

Extra transfers for AFCON

For Premier League managers, the Africa Cup of Nations and subsequent exodus of key players can pose a serious stumbling block in the season. The same goes for Fantasy managers.

To aid the struggle, managers will be given extra free transfers in GW16 to help plan around the tournament, which takes place between 21 December 2025 and 18 January 2026.

The total number of free transfers available to managers will be topped up to the maximum possible number of five in GW16 to take into account the possibility that some players will leave early for the tournament.

Changes to Bonus Points System

The following tweaks have been made to the system to hand out extra points from matches to players.

The Bonus Points System (BPS) uses a range of statistics supplied by Opta, with a performance score allocated to each player.

The players ho rank in the top three BPS for each match will receive bonus points - three points to the highest-scoring player, two to the second best and one to the third.

How are bonus point ties resolved?

If there is a tie for first place, Players 1 & 2 will receive 3 points each and Player 3 will receive 1 point. If there is a tie for second place, Player 1 will receive 3 points and Players 2 and 3 will receive 2 points each. If there is a tie for third place, Player 1 will receive 3 points, Player 2 will receive 2 points and Players 3 & 4 will receive 1 point each.

Goalkeeper saves

In previous seasons, goalkeepers would earn two points in the BPS for each save they made. But this season the shot location is an added factor. So a goalkeeper will earn three points in the BPS if the shot is taken from inside the penalty area, or two points if the shot is taken from outside the area.

A penalty save is down from nine points in the BPS to eight points this season. If you throw in the three points for a save from a shot inside the box, the total comes to 11 points for this particular action.

Goalline clearances

Players will now earn nine points in the BPS, up from three points last season.

Penalty goals

There is a new “Penalty goals scored” metric to help users differentiate from other goals scored.

A player earns 12 points in the BPS for scoring a penalty, no matter what their position is in FPL. Previously, forwards earned 24 points, midfielders earned 18 points and defenders earned 12 points for scoring a penalty. Those same numbers apply to all non-penalty goals scored in 2025/26.

The two points awarded for each “Successful Tackles (net)” - which is a total of "Tackles Won" minus "Tackles Lost" – has changed.