What’s changed as FPL goes live?

For the 2025-26 season, the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) features some improvements.

There have also been reports of new ways to score points and additional chips that you can use to add to your team throughout the campaign in addition to price changes and a ton of newcomers to the league.

Players are now permitted to use all four chips for two purposes, which is a significant change for the new season.

They are: wildcard, free hit, triple captain, and bench boost. Players will now be able to use each chip for one season, starting with the first half, and continuing with the second.

Bench boost refers to a team’s substitutes’ overall score in that gameweek when all four points are taken into account.

Players can change as many players as they want during a single gameweek with free hits, but their team will be reset as it was the previous week.

A team’s captain’s score is tripled rather than doubled for a single gameweek in the Triple Captain program.

In a single gameweek, a player can add an unlimited number of permanent transfers to their team.

Players in the outfield now get bonus points for each defensive move they make in a single match.

Defensive involvements include clearances, blocks, interceptions, and tackles for defenders.

Clearances, blocks, interceptions, tackles, and ball recoveries fall under the category of such for midfielders and forwards.

A defensive player will receive two bonus points for every ten defensive actions they perform in a single game. For every 12 actions taken, two points are given to midfielders and forwards.

James Tarkowski at Everton would have been the top-scoring player for defensive involvements if this had been in place for the 2024/25 season. He would have earned 44 bonus points, four more than any other player.

Additionally, the awarding of bonus points has changed.

Based on the Bonus Points System (BPS), which includes statistics from Opta, bonus points are awarded to the top three players in each match.

Goalkeepers used to receive two BPS points for each saved. The number of shots saved inside the box has now increased to three, with those saved outside at two.

A goalkeeper would have previously received nine BPS points from a saved penalty. The save has been reduced to eight, but it is counterbalanced by more shots coming from inside the penalty area being saved.

Regardless of a player’s position, all penalties that have been scored now total 12 BPS points. Prior to that, midfielders and forwards had 18 and 24 points, respectively.

The value of a goalline clearance has increased from three BPS points to nine.

The tackles are the final BPS point change. Two BPS points are awarded for every successful tackle. Prior to this, net tackles won were awarded two points (tackles won minus tackles lost).

In order to allow for more, there have also been modifications to what is now being categorized as an assist.

As long as the assist only took one touch off a defender and was received by the goalscorer inside the penalty area, no matter whether it reached its intended goal.

As long as the defensive error involved is not a missplaced pass, then an assist will now be made by the player whose pass led to it.

The defense’s one-touch rule, once more, is still in effect.

During the Premier League season, there will be the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

All managers will receive five free transfers for Gameweek 16 to help players avoid losing a significant number of players to the tournament, regardless of how many free transfers they had left over from the previous week.

The cost of players may change, as is the case every year.

Both Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah will cost £14.5 million ($11.25 million last season) and £14 million ($15 million, respectively).

Jordan Pickford, a goalkeeper for England and Everton, will begin the new season for £5.5 million (compared to £5 million last year).

Rayan Ait-Nouri, a left-back for Manchester City who left Wolves last month, will be priced at £6 million (£4.5 million last season).

Florian Wirtz, a record signing for Liverpool and a German international, will cost £8.5 million at the start of the season.

Alexander Isak, a Swedish striker for Newcastle, earns £10.5 million (£8.5 million last season).

11 players have also been made changes to their positions by FPL.

Cody Gakpo of Liverpool, Omar Marmoush of Manchester City, Matehus Cunha of Manchester United, and Iliman Ndiaye of Everton have all switched from midfielders to midfielders.

Jarrod Bowen, the West Ham captain, has been made a forward while Myles Lewis-Skelly, the underage teen, has been made a defender.

Our readers can join and compete in our own dedicated FPL league, just like it’s been done before.

You can now register using the bbcfpl code.

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