How does Fantasy Premier League scoring work
By Arasi Rex · Updated 7 August 2026 · 6 min read
Fantasy Premier League points come from goals, assists, clean sheets, saves, defensive contributions and bonus points, and the position a player holds decides what most of those actions are worth. A goalkeeper's goal is worth 10 points, a defender's 6, a midfielder's 5 and a forward's 4; an assist is worth 3 for everyone, and a clean sheet is worth 4 to a goalkeeper or defender but only 1 to a midfielder. You build a 15-man squad on a £100.0m budget with no more than three players from any one club, and 11 of them start each Gameweek.
How FPL points are awarded
The full 2026/27 points table, as published by the Premier League on 20 July 2026:
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Playing up to 60 minutes | 1 |
| Playing 60 minutes or more (excluding stoppage time) | 2 |
| Goal by a goalkeeper | 10 |
| Goal by a defender | 6 |
| Goal by a midfielder | 5 |
| Goal by a forward | 4 |
| Assist | 3 |
| Clean sheet by a goalkeeper or defender | 4 |
| Clean sheet by a midfielder | 1 |
| Every 3 shots saved by a goalkeeper | 1 |
| Each penalty save | 5 |
| 10 defensive contributions by a defender | 2 |
| 12 defensive contributions by a midfielder or forward | 2 |
| Penalty miss | -2 |
| Every 2 goals conceded by a goalkeeper or defender | -1 |
| Yellow card | -1 |
| Red card | -3 |
| Own goal | -2 |
| Bonus points for the best players in a match | 1-3 |
The headline change for 2026/27 is the goalkeeper goal. A keeper who scores is now worth 10 points, the same as two penalty saves, and that is why a set-piece specialist at a club that wins a lot of corners has quietly become one of the most efficient picks in the game.
The 60-minute rule and clean sheets
Appearance points are all-or-nothing at the hour mark: 1 point for anything under 60 minutes, 2 for 60 minutes or more. Stoppage time does not count, so a substitute who comes on in the 30th minute and plays to the whistle gets the full 2 as long as his side reaches the 60-minute point while he is on the pitch.
Clean sheets carry the same qualifying rule, and the interaction matters. A defender or goalkeeper who is substituted before the team concedes keeps the 4 points provided he has played 60 minutes or more. In practice this means a nailed-on defender who comes off at 3-0 in the 70th minute is safe, while one hooked at half-time loses everything.
Defensive contribution points: the 2026/27 addition
Defensive contribution (DefCon) points arrived in 2025/26 and stay unchanged for 2026/27, confirmed by the Premier League on 20 July 2026. Defenders earn 2 points for 10 combined clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles (CBIT) in a match. Midfielders and forwards need 12 defensive contributions, with ball recoveries included, which turns the metric into CBIRT.
The reward is capped at 2 points per match regardless of volume. A defender who racks up 20 CBIT still scores 2, not 4, which is the design working as intended: it pays the cheap ball-winner a reliable floor without letting every centre-back drift into midfielder territory. Last season's top DefCon scorers were Anderson (52), Senesi (50) and Tarkowski (44), and of the top ten, five were centre-backs and five were defensive midfielders. No forward made the list, which tells you the position's value still has to come from goals and assists.
Why the position splits matter
The goal values are deliberately uneven, and that imbalance is the whole game. A midfielder who scores is worth 5, only 1 more than a forward, but a midfielder can also bank the 1-point clean sheet bonus that a forward cannot touch. A defender's goal is worth 6, which beats most midfielders' entire gameweek, and the 4-point clean sheet makes the premium full-back the single most reliable asset class in the game. The goalkeeper goal at 10 exists to be rare: it is a jackpot, not a strategy.
Where the scoring confusions live
Assists have a specific definition that trips up new managers. The assist goes to the player who makes the final pass or touch before a goal. It can still be awarded if an opponent gets a touch in between, but there must be only one defensive touch and the goalscorer must receive the ball inside the penalty area. If the scorer receives it outside the box, the defensive touch must not significantly alter the intended destination of the pass or cross.
Three situations people get wrong:
- Rebounds: if a shot is blocked, saved by the goalkeeper or hits the woodwork, and a goal is scored from the rebound, the original shooter gets the assist.
- Own goals: a shot or pass that forces an opponent to put the ball into his own net earns the forcing player an assist.
- Penalty misses: the player who misses scores -2 and gets nothing else, and the goalkeeper gets 5 for the save on top of the save points.
The rules that sit next to scoring
Scoring is the foundation, but three adjacent rules shape how you build around it. The captain scores double, which is why the armband decision matters more than almost any transfer you make. A transfer beyond the free allowance costs 4 points, so the first -4 of the season is usually a mistake. And chips come in two sets of four, one set per half of the season, with the first set expiring at the Gameweek 19 deadline on Saturday 2 January 2027 at 13:30 GMT.
If you want the full picture, read our FPL chips guide for how the four chips work, check how a price change affects your squad value, and see how the bonus points system hands out 3-2-1 after every match. For live movement during a Gameweek, our FPL hub tracks scores as they happen.
FAQ
How many points is a goal worth in FPL? It depends on position: 10 for a goalkeeper, 6 for a defender, 5 for a midfielder and 4 for a forward. This is the 2026/27 table published by the Premier League.
Do you get clean sheet points if you are subbed off? Yes, provided you have played 60 minutes or more. Being substituted before a goal is conceded does not cost a goalkeeper or defender their 4 clean-sheet points.
What are defensive contribution points? Defenders earn 2 points for 10 combined clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles in a match; midfielders and forwards need 12 with ball recoveries included. The reward is capped at 2 points per match.
How does a penalty miss affect points? The player who misses is docked 2 points. The goalkeeper who saves it earns 5, plus 1 point for every 3 shots saved in the match.
Key takeaways
- A goal is worth 10 points for a goalkeeper, 6 for a defender, 5 for a midfielder and 4 for a forward; assists are worth 3 for every position.
- Appearance points are 1 under 60 minutes and 2 for 60 minutes or more, with stoppage time excluded.
- DefCon points, unchanged for 2026/27, pay 2 points for 10 CBIT (defenders) or 12 CBIRT (midfielders and forwards), capped at 2 per match.
- Clean-sheet points survive a substitution as long as the player has played 60+ minutes.
- The captain scores double and a transfer beyond the free allowance costs 4 points, so both decisions should be made deliberately, not reactively.