The key change this season is that outfield players can now earn two bonus points based on the number of defensive actions they make in one match.
FPL managers now also get double the amount of chips – two Free Hits, two Wildcards, two Bench Boosts and two Triple Captains.
And managers will have their free transfer pool boosted to five transfers before the Africa Cup of Nations in January.
Full details here.
Pras: A two-point return is almost as good as a three-point assist, so picking reliable players with good minutes, mainly centre-backs and defensive midfielders, has become much more viable.
We will also need to think about our bench players differently. Players are more likely to accumulate these two-pointers in tougher matches. So is Everton’s James Tarkowski (£5.5m) away to Chelsea as bad a fixture as before? Perhaps not.
Holly: Defensive contribution points give extra utility to centre-backs and we could see a rise in managers opting to play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3.
When it comes to midfielders, FPL managers should embrace the value provided by defensive midfielders such as Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo (£5.5m) and Brighton’s Carlos Baleba (£5m) for their fourth or fifth midfielder spots.
Statman: You’ve got to remember that these defensive contribution numbers are only there if you’ve picked that player every single game through the season.
For example, with Tarkowski, you’ve got to go through those games against Liverpool and Manchester City, those games where Everton are not favourites, to get those points – so you’re really going to have to balance it out in terms of opposition and whether you think they’re going to make defensive actions.
One team I’m really excited about for defensive contributions is Tottenham under Thomas Frank, because the numbers should shoot up for a number of their players and they’ve got a lot of £4.5m defenders.
In midfield, one player who really stands out is Bruno Fernandes. He would have got 22 extra points last season.
The start of the season is rubbish for Manchester United but he’s someone that does make a lot of ball recoveries, makes a lot of tackles for his position.
Heisenberg: The FPL rule changes shift gameplay significantly.
Two sets of chips is an interesting change. We’ll see greater variety in chip usage in the first half of the season, with no double gameweeks around.
Five free transfers for Afcon is a rule change I am not a fan of. Properly planning used to lead to an advantage, now everyone gets bailed out for free. However, I plan to maximise these free transfers by effectively having close to an extra wildcard and I won’t use it to simply firefight absences from my squad.
