What Are Defensive Contributions In FPL?

Defensive Contributions, usually shortened to DefCon, are one of the more significant scoring changes FPL has introduced in recent seasons. They give defenders, midfielders, and forwards a genuine route to points from doing their defensive job well, rather than points being tied almost entirely to goals, assists, and clean sheets. Here’s exactly how it works.

What Counts As A Defensive Contribution

The rule tracks a set of defensive actions across a match: clearances, blocks, interceptions, and tackles, often shortened to CBIT. For midfielders and forwards, ball recoveries are added on top of that same list, shortened to CBIRT.

Hit the required number of those actions in a single match, and you’re awarded bonus points on top of whatever else you’ve earned that game, goals, assists, clean sheets, all of it stacks together.

The Thresholds

The number of actions needed depends on position:

• Defenders need 10 or more CBIT actions in a match.
• Midfielders and forwards need 12 or more CBIRT actions in a match, the extra category of ball recoveries makes up for the higher number.
• Goalkeepers aren’t part of the rule at all.

Hit the threshold for your position and you’re awarded 2 points, on top of your normal score for the match.

Are DEFCON Points Capped in FPL?

Defensive Contribution points are capped at 2 per match, no matter how far past the threshold a player goes. A defender who racks up 20 qualifying actions in a game still gets 2 points for it, the same as a defender who hits exactly 10. There’s no bonus for exceeding the threshold, it’s a flat reward for clearing the bar.

Why It Changes How You Pick Players

Before this rule existed, a defensive midfielder who did a lot of unglamorous work, tackling, intercepting, recovering the ball, without contributing many goals or assists, was a weak FPL pick. Now that same player has a realistic, repeatable route to points every week just by doing what they already do on the pitch.

This is a big part of why midfielders in particular have become such strong FPL assets. They get goals, assists, the clean sheet bonus, appearance points, and now a genuine shot at Defensive Contribution points too, provided they’re the type of midfielder who racks up defensive actions rather than a pure attacking outlet. Defenders benefit from the rule as well, but midfielders are the ones who picked up an entirely new stat category (ball recoveries) that defenders don’t have access to, which is exactly why defensively-minded midfielders have become some of the most consistent scorers in the game. We covered this in more depth in our piece on the best formation in FPL, where the case for playing more midfielders leans heavily on this same rule.

What This Means Practically

When you’re weighing up a defender or midfielder for your squad, it’s worth looking past goals and assists alone and checking whether they’re the type of player who regularly gets through a high volume of tackles, interceptions, clearances, and recoveries. A defender who reliably hits double digits in defensive actions each week is banking 2 points most gameweeks before a single goal or clean sheet is even considered, and that adds up over a season in a way that’s easy to overlook if you’re only scanning goal and assist totals.

FAQ

Do goalkeepers get Defensive Contribution points? No, the rule only applies to defenders, midfielders, and forwards.

Can a player get more than 2 points from Defensive Contributions in one match? No, it’s capped at 2 points per match regardless of how many qualifying actions they rack up beyond the threshold.

Is the threshold the same for midfielders and forwards? Yes, both need 12 CBIRT actions in a match, though in practice relatively few forwards hit that number since it’s not a typical part of their role.

Do Defensive Contribution points stack with clean sheet points and goal involvements? Yes, they’re entirely separate from the rest of your scoring and simply add on top.