Yesterday, the 2025/26 FPL season officially opened for registration. FPL managers were finally able to sign up and create their first drafts.
The official X handle of the Fantasy Premier League announced that about 844,000 managers signed up on day 1, and many FPL managers know more managers would join, as about 10 million managers signed up to the platform last season.
In this season, there are a couple of changes. As expected, there are changes in player prices with Salah’s price going up to £14.5 million and Haaland valued at £14.0 million, making them the most expensive players in the game.
But the main changes to the game affect the point system and how players can use their chips.
Defensive Contributions
In the 2025/26 FPL season, players will be rewarded for their defensive contributions. This will come in handy when clean sheets disappear or if you’re a manager who has previously overlooked center and defensive midfielders.
What the new defensive contributions mean is that any defender who gets a combined total of 10 clearances, blocks, interceptions, and tackles (CBIT) in a single match will score two FPL points. This is similar to save points, where keepers get one point for every three saves.
However, it’s slightly different. Defensive contribution points will be capped at two points per match, so if a defender makes 20 CBIT in a match, they would still collect just two points, not four.
Midfielders and forwards can also give you points for defensive contributions.
This new system rewards midfielders and forwards for pressing and transitioning defence into attack, clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles, their “ball recoveries”. However, they would have to do more to get points for defensive contributions. They have to get 12 defensive contributions, whereas defenders only need 10.
Two Sets of Chips
Now this is a welcome move by FPL managers. Two sets of chips adds more bite to their FPL strategy as managers can be more flexible with the chips rather than waiting towards the end of the season to use them.
However, these chips will be divided within the two halves of the season. You must use your first set of Triple Captain, Bench Boost, Free Hit and Wildcard before the end of Gameweek 19 which is on 30th of December 2025. If you fail to use any of these chips, they will expire on the deadline and you won’t be able to carry it to the next half of the season.
Unlike last season, there will be no Assistant Manager chip in Fantasy Premier League.
Free Transfers During AFCON
One of the biggest nightmares for FPL managers is the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) as it eats into the regular season. For the 2025/26 season, AFCON is scheduled to hold from Sunday 21 December 2025 to Sunday 18 January 2026. From an FPL point of view, it would cover Gameweek 17-22.
During this period, African players and FPL heavyweights like Salah, Mbuemo, Amad and Iwobi to mention a few would be unavailable which disrupts FPL tactics.
FPL has allowed for free transfers from Gameweek 16 to allow managers prepare ahead of AFCON. In Gameweek 16, players will get a maximum of five free transfers. This will help them balance any losses in their squad before the AFCON players return.
Changes to FPL Assist Rules
Usually, FPL assists are given to the player from the goalscoring team with the last touch before the goal. However, if a defender touches the ball before it gets to the goalscorer, the player with the last touch doesn’t get the assist.
In the 2025/26 season, there is a change to this rule. As long as the touch from the defending player isn’t a back pass or a forced touch, the assist will be given to the last player on the goalscoring team to touch the ball.
Creating Team Badges
FPL managers will be able to create their own unique team badge thanks to the Premier League’s new partnership with Adobe. FPL managers will have access to Adobe Express and its Firefly generative AI tool which they can use to create their own badges.
With these new changes, managers can’t wait for the new season to begin. Many have already created their squads while others are deciding which players from their multiple drafts eventually make it into the main team. Well, there’s still time to figure out your team but by August 15th, the deadline for Gameweek 1 would elapse and it would be time to battle.
