Hello and welcome all to my first article for the 2026/27 FPL season! There’s a lot to learn from last season, especially given it was the onset of a flurry of changes. In an attempt to make these learnings readable for 2026/27 season, we have attempted to analyse last year’s data. In this article, we’ll break down everything about Defensive Contributions (DEFCON) – how it works, which players rack up the highest DEFCONs, which opponents are conducive to these, and more. With that, let’s get into it.
Link to all our 2026/27 Pre-Season articles including all team pre-season friendly updates, best drafts, fixture analysis, position-wise analysis, differentials, players to target, budget enablers and more. Completely free to access as well!
What is DEFCON?
Last season introduced a way to make the game more holistic across all player segments. Outfield players being rewarded for their defensive contributions, a crucial aspect which had often gone under-appreciated from an FPL points system’s perspective. These include clearances, blocks, interceptions, and tackles (CBIT).
For defenders, a player must accumulate at least 10 CBIT in a match to be awarded 2 DEFCON points. For midfielders and forwards, recoveries are also included in the calculation, so CBIRT determining their DEFCON points – since recoveries count towards their total, midfielders and forwards need to accumulate 12 CBIRT to be awarded the same 2 points.
It’s worth noting that 2 points is the maximum that will be awarded for DEFCON. Even if a player accumulates more than their required threshold for defensive contributions in a single game, they’ll only be awarded those 2 points, although a high DEFCON count could still help their case for additional bonus points. Players can only earn 0 or 2 points through DEFCON, there’s no in-between.
That adds a genuine multi-layered approach to an FPL manager’s strategy, going beyond “two-dimensional” targets of goal scorers and clean sheets.
Note: For the 26/27 season, a player will now earn 1 BPS for every 3 CBI, instead of getting 1 BPS for every 2 CBI last season. This is to balance DEFCON defenders benefiting in BPS (Bonus point system) scoring as well.
Top Defenders to target for DEFCON
Best Player Performances
| Player | DEFCON threshold success (%) | CBIT per 90 minutes | Current Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senesi | 70.27% | 11.47 | 6.0 |
| Hill | 63.64% | 11.13 | 5.5 |
| Andersen | 60.61% | 10.27 | 5.0 |
| Tarkowski | 59.46% | 10.16 | 6.0 |
| Ballard | 58.33% | 11.08 | 5.0 |
| Lacroix | 57.14% | 10.79 | 6.0 |
| Bijol | 52.38% | 10.44 | 5.0 |
| Botman | 52.38% | 10.60 | 5.0 |
| Keane | 51.72% | 10.50 | 5.0 |
| Collins | 50.00% | 9.66 | 5.5 |
Across last season, Marcos Senesi was the standout DEFCON defender, racking up 52 DEFCON points at a hit-rate of 70.3% – the highest by some margin. Off the back of that performance he now carries a £6.0m price tag, with a potential change in role too, since he’s part of Spurs’ backline this season. Between a hefty price and an unappealing opening fixture run, he’s a watch-list name for me rather than a nailed-on pick – but one I’m watching closely.
James Tarkowski recorded the second-highest total DEFCON points (44), good for 4th on hit-rate. He’s always been a reliable presence in the backline and a solid pick to start the season with. Next up was Lacroix (40 points, 6th on hit-rate) — having joined Chelsea, he could emerge as an interesting option. Chelsea have an attractive opening set of fixtures too, facing Brighton (H) and Hull City (H) inside their first four.
Joachim Andersen (back from GW2 onwards) and James Hill both performed well on the metric, with total DEFCON points of 40 and 28 respectively, and are the relatively cheaper names among the top performers to target this season. Andersen faces back-to-back promoted sides in GW6-8 run. On efficiency over raw volume, Hill posted a whopping 63.6% success rate from 22 games – though Bournemouth’s opening fixtures aren’t the kindest.
Interestingly, among the top-scoring defenders, Gabriel ranks just 27th on hit-rate. Marc Guéhi and Virgil van Dijk aren’t far behind either, sitting just inside the top 25.
Special mention for Chalobah at £5.5m – a 45% DEFCON hit-rate makes him a slightly cheaper alternative to Lacroix for covering that Chelsea backline. Sunderland’s Ballard (£5.0m) and Mukiele (£5.5m) also had a superb first Premier League season and are well worth considering if you’re targeting DEFCON in the sub-£5.5m bracket.
Fantasy Football Hub(FFHUB) Free AI Team Rating Tool
Best Opponent to target for Defenders
How to read the graph: The two dots show how often opposing defenders picked up a DEFCON point (crossed threshold or hit-rate) against a ‘given team’ last season. Blue dot – given team is away from home. Orange dot – given team is at their own ground. The line connecting the dots depicts home vs away gap; a short line – venue barely matters & a long line means it matters a lot. Teams are arranged top to bottom by their overall average DEFCON threshold rate. The further up a team sits, the more DEFCON-friendly they are on average.
Crystal Palace offer the highest DEFCON potential for defenders, and it’s remarkably venue-agnostic – opposition defenders hit the threshold at roughly 36% whether Palace are home or away. Everton sit third overall, which tracks with how they set up last season: a more front-foot, attacking brand of football came at the cost of defensive solidity, and that trade-off shows up here as extra clearances and blocks for whoever they’re facing.
Bournemouth are the standout anomaly on the chart. At the Vitality, defenders hit the DEFCON threshold ~39% of the time – the highest home rate in the league – but that collapses to just ~22% away from home, one of the widest home/away splits in the dataset. Worth filing away for those last-minute transfer dilemmas: Bournemouth (A) on your fixture list (i.e. your defender travelling to the Vitality) is about as close to a guaranteed DEFCON fixture as this data gets.
Last season’s promoted trio didn’t offer much DEFCON juice for their opponents – Burnley (21.4%) and Sunderland (23.1%) sit firmly in the bottom third, though Leeds (29.3%) is the exception and lands closer to mid-table.
Elsewhere, Arsenal and Man City can be seen clustered together in the middle of the chart. They often dominate possession and do not give opportunity to other teams to pounce.
Best Teams to Target for DEFCON – Defenders | FPL 2026/27 Opening Fixtures
Nott’m Forest lead the defender pack with Everton and Bournemouth close behind; but the routes there look different.
Forest’s run is front-loaded with tough away DEFCON tests (Liverpool, Aston Villa) sandwiched around three generous home ties, so their overall number slightly understates how spiky the actual gameweek-to-gameweek returns could be.
Everton and Brighton both open at home against Crystal Palace and Aston Villa respectively – two of last season’s most DEFCON-friendly opponents – making GW1 a strong early entry point for defenders from either side.
Spurs and Brighton tie on paper but Spurs’ schedule is away-heavy (four of six on the road).
Top Midfielders to target for DEFCON
Best Player Performances
| Player | DEFCON threshold success (%) | CBIRT per 90 minutes | Current Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson | 70.27% | 13.91 | 6.5 |
| Bentancur | 56.52% | 13.31 | 5.5 |
| Ampadu | 54.29% | 12.00 | 5.5 |
| Garner | 52.63% | 12.08 | 6.0 |
| Wieffer* | 47.83% | 12.74 | 5.0 |
| Scott | 44.12% | 12.20 | 6.0 |
| M. Fernandes | 42.86% | 11.01 | 6.0 |
| Xhaka | 40.63% | 11.23 | 5.5 |
| Caicedo | 40.63% | 11.78 | 5.5 |
| Rice | 40.00% | 10.94 | 7.5 |
| Yarmoliuk | 36.67% | 11.47 | 5.0 |
*Wieffer has now been reclassified as a defender in the game — his adjusted CBIT figure for recoveries stands at ~7.91 per 90.
The name that echoed loudest through last season – Elliot Anderson, aka the “DEFCON monster” – will be playing this season in a Man City shirt. His 2025/26 campaign was impeccable, earning him a £6.5m price tag; he racked up 180 points, roughly 30% of which came from DEFCON alone.
James Garner was the second-highest DEFCON scorer among midfielders. He’s currently flagged, but remains a good option to fill that 4th or 5th midfielder spot once fit. Leeds’ Ampadu isn’t far behind on the same metric, and adding Yarmoliuk into the mix gives you three names offering plenty of DEFCON potential for their price tag.
The standout names in this price bucket are Xhaka and Caicedo – both scored 26 DEFCON points last season and offer decent goal threat going forward. Xhaka’s Sunderland have a brilliant opening three fixtures, and at £5.5m he’s one of the closest names to being locked into my GW1 squad. Caicedo’s Chelsea, meanwhile, carry the added bonus of a lighter fixture calendar this season.
Coming back to the slightly more expensive midfielders, this section wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Declan Rice. The Arsenal man arguably had his best season yet – a hit-rate of 40% and an average CBIT of ~10.9 keeps him firmly in the mix for both the threshold and bonus points.
Among last year’s top five scoring midfielders, Bruno only crossed the DEFCON threshold ~14% of the time, with Gibbs-White, Rogers, and Harry Wilson hitting it even less often. What’s interesting is that two of the top five scoring midfielders were Anderson and Rice, which makes them look like excellent value at their price point.
Wieffer (now re-classified as a defender) at 5.0m is one to keep a close eye on.
New Signing:
Brentford’s new signing Mamadou Sangare could be the new Elliot Anderson. He averaged 14.2 DEFCON’s per 90 last season in Ligue 1 for RC Lens, who finished 2nd in the table. Sangare also picked up 3 Goals, 4 Assists, and 5.33 xGI from 29 starts.
Best Opponent to target for Midfielders
The midfielder picture looks less exciting overall – even the most generous opponent tops out at a ~22% average hit-rate.
Spurs sit top overall but the split is stark – midfielders picking up DEFCON against them jump from 18.3% away to over 25% at home, making that fixture far more valuable when Spurs are hosting.
Nott’m Forest show the sharpest swing on the whole chart, roughly doubling from an 11% away rate to 22% at home – one of the clearest venue-specific plays in the dataset.
Interestingly, Aston Villa and Man City buck the overall trend entirely, with the away hit-rate actually higher than the home one, defying the “home is better” pattern.
At the other end, West Ham, Leeds, and Brighton cluster at the bottom with tight gaps between their dots, meaning there’s no real venue advantage to chase there.
Best Teams to Target for DEFCON – Midfielders | FPL 2026/27 Opening Fixtures
Spurs top the midfielder list at but notably lower than the best defender number (31.4%) – a reminder that midfielders need a higher threshold.
Man Utd sit just behind at 19.2%, and their run is unusually front-and-back loaded with fixtures against Hull and Ipswich (both newly promoted, so untested at this level) sandwiching a tougher middle stretch.
Fulham, Hull City, and Coventry cluster tightly in the 17% range, with Coventry’s run stacked with away fixtures (four of six).
Best Sub-£7.0m Performers: Attacking Returns or DEFCON?
A natural follow-up question: among defenders and midfielders priced under £7.0m last season, was it attacking returns or DEFCON that actually won managers the most points? The answer is a genuine split, and it matters even more now that prices have started to bake DEFCON ability in – worth knowing which type of player you’re picking up before you commit a transfer.
Elliot Anderson topped the entire sub-£7.0m bucket with 180 total points at just £5.7m last season, with DEFCON doing the heavy lifting alongside 4 goals and 5 assists. Senesi (175 points, £5.2m) leaned on DEFCON even more heavily, with it accounting for 29.7% of his total. Tarkowski (170 points, £5.8m) and Lacroix (154 points, £5.2m) followed the same pattern, with DEFCON contributing 25.9% and 26.0% of their points respectively.
Contrast that with Virgil van Dijk (175 points, £6.1m), whose 32 DEFCON points made up just 18.3% of his total — his season was carried more by 6 goals, clean sheets, and bonus points. Or look at Gabriel, whose 22 DEFCON points made up just 10.5% of his 209-point haul last season, despite sitting outside this bucket at £8.0m – a reminder that not every premium defender’s price tag is built on DEFCON (more on that in the conclusion).
And then there’s the clearest example of the opposite pole: Harry Wilson at Fulham (168 points, £5.8m) barely touched DEFCON at all, with just 2 points (1.2% of his total) against 10 goals, 9 assists, and 21 bonus points — a sub-£7.0m season won purely on attacking output. O’Reilly at Man City told a similar story: 160 points with only 2 DEFCON points to his name.
So the honest answer is: both routes work, but they look completely different on a team sheet. If you’re hunting sub-£7.0m value, decide whether you want the DEFCON-reliable floor of Senesi, Tarkowski, Anderson, and Lacroix, or the attacking-upside ceiling of Wilson and O’Reilly.
What to expect from newly promoted teams?
Coventry City
Coventry City conceded 45 goals in their title-winning Championship campaign, the best defensive record of the three promoted sides. Their headline defensive addition is Aurèle Amenda (£4.0m), a £17m signing from Eintracht Frankfurt, whose Bundesliga numbers last season pointed to 8.97 CBIT per 90 and a 38.9% threshold-hit rate across his 18 starts (data via WhoScored). He’s expected to take the centre-back spot ahead of Liam Kitching.
Milan van Ewijk (£4.0m) offers his value on the attacking front instead – 10 assists last season, rather than through DEFCON.
Van Ewijk’s teammate, Bobby Thomas (4.0 Million), is also a solid option. The English CB had seven attacking contributions (3 goals + 4 assists) in 33 games, which is impressive for a center-back. Thomas also has a better Defcon potential than Van Ewijk, having averaged 8.56 DC/90, which is roughly two more than Van Ewijk.
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town conceded 47 goals. Despite a slow start – just 1 clean sheet in their first 10 games — they went on to shut out 15 of their final 32 opponents. New signing Issa Diop (£4.0m, an £8.5m transfer from Fulham) has posted CBIT-per-90 figures close to the threshold across his previous Premier League seasons. He’ll compete with club captain Dara O’Shea (£4.0m) and Jacob Greaves (£4.0m) for a starting spot. Ipswich Town’s player of the season, Matusiwa, averaged 11.7 DC per 90. At 5.0 Million, he could be a great DEFCON midfielder pick.
Do note: Matusiwa underwent surgery after the end of last season following a muscle injury, and Ipswich Town manager Gary O’Neil said midfield duo Azor Matusiwa and Jack Taylor are “trying as hard as they can to be available for Sunderland (GW1)” and it is unlikely the pair will feature in any pre-season friendlies.
Florentino Luis is also linked with a move to Ipswich Town. He averaged 13.4 DEFCONs per 90 at Burnley last season. Luis was a 5 million midfielder last season, and hopefully he comes in as a £ 5.0 million midfielder this time too once his move is finalized.
Hull City
Hull City were the weak link of the three by some distance, conceding 66 goals in the Championship. They still managed 11 clean sheets (5 at home, 6 away). Individually, though, DEFCON could be on the cards: Charlie Hughes (£4.0m) posted the best DEFCON rate of any Hull defender at 11.78 per 90, while John Egan (£4.0m) averaged 10.27 per 90 and was also Hull’s top-scoring defender with 3 goals.
Impact of DEFCON- Defenders vs Budget Mids vs Budget Forwards Comparison:
Most Points last season: (Included only Players <= £6.5 this season)
- Anderson – 180 (£6.5 MID)
- Guehi- 179 (£6.0 DEF)
- Senesi- 175 (£6.0 DEF)
- Virgil- 175 (£6.5 DEF)
- Tarkowski- 170 (£6.0 DEF)
- Wilson- 168 (£6.5 MID)
- Truffert- 165 (£5.5 DEF)
- Raya- 162 (£6.0 GK)
- O’Reilly- 160 (£6.5 DEF)
- Garner- 159 (£6.0 MID)
- Lacroix- 154 (£6.0 DEF)
- Nunes- 154 (£6.0 DEF)
- KDH- 151 (£6.5 MID)
- Mukiele- 151 (£5.5 DEF)
- Timber- 149 (£6.5 DEF)
- Van Hecke- 148 (£5.0 DEF)
- Le Fee- 147 (£6.0 MID)
- Gravenberch- 144 (£6.0 MID)
- Kelleher- 143 (£5.0 GK)
- DCL- 142 (£6.0 FWD)
- Stach- 137 (£6.0 MID)
- Tavernier- 137 (£6.0 MID)
- Saliba- 137 (£6.0 DEF)
- Chalobah- 136 (£5.5 DEF)
- Dango- 136 (£6.5 MID)
- Roefs- 136 (£5.0 GK)
- Scott- 136 (£6.0 MID)
- Munoz- 136 (£5.5 DEF)
- Donnarumma- 135 (£5.5 GK)
- Mitchell- 135 (£4.5 DEF)
- Fernandes.M – 135 (£6.0 MID)
- Pickford- 135 (£5.5 GK)
- Ampadu- 134 (£5.5 MID)
- Zubimendi- 133 (£5.5 MID)
- Keane- 131 (£5.0 DEF)
- Henderson- 131 (£5.0 GK)
- Verbruggen- 130 (£4.5 GK)
- Collins- 129 (£5.5 DEF)
- Williams- 128 (£5.0 DEF)
- Richards- 128 (£5.0 DEF)
- Ndiaye- 128 (£6.0 MID)
- Thiaw- 126 (£5.0 DEF)
- Aaronson- 126 (£5.5 MID)
- Welbeck- 126 (£6.0 FWD)
- Alderete- 125 (£5.0 DEF)
- Neto- 125 (£6.5 MID)
- Schade- 125 (£6.0 MID)
- Petrovic- 124 (£4.5 GK)
- Xhaka- 124. (£5.5 MID)
- Andersen- 123 (£5.0 DEF)
- Leno- 122 (£4.5 GK)
- E.Martinez- 120 (£5.0 GK)
- Milenkovic- 119 (£5.5 DEF)
- Richarlison- 119 (£6.0 FWD)
- Kadioglu- 118 (£4.5 DEF)
- Sarr- 117 (£6.5 MID)
- Minteh- 117 (£6.0 MID)
- Porro- 117 (£5.5 DEF)
- Cash- 117 (£4.5 DEF)
- O’Brien- 116 (£5.0 DEF)
- Van de Ven- 116 (£5.0 DEF)
- Balllard- 116 (£5.0 DEF)
- Lewis Potter- 115 (£5.5 MID)
- Evanilson- 115 (£6.0 FWD)
- James- 115 (£5.5 DEF)
- I.Jesus- 114 (£6.0 FWD)
- Mateta- 114 (£6.0 FWD)
- Eze- 113 (£6.5 MID)
- Dias- 113 (£5.5 DEF)
- Kayode- 113 (£4.5 DEF)
- Sanchez- 113 (£5.0 GK)
- Damsgaard- 113 (£5.5 MID)
- Van den Berg- 113 (£5.0 DEF)
- Shaw- 113 (£4.5 DEF)
Key Notes from the above data:
🔹Despite FPL increasing the prices of DEFCON DEFs & MIDs- They are still excellent value for money. Think FPL got it spot on with Pricing this season
🔹Guehi, Senesi(if nailed), VVD, Tarko are all fixture proof & good picks even though they are Premiums now
🔹Playing 5 at the back is genuinely a good option as suggested by Player Count in Top 50- GK(9), DEF(20), MID(18), FWD(3)
🔹The 1st Forward in the above list comes only at 20th position(DCL)
🔹As many as 11 DEFs make the Top 20 & most of them are DEFCON guys
🔹Raya at £6.0 is a good shout & still a value pick
🔹Garner(Currently injured), Anderson, Le Fee all might sound boring but will tick over through the season & get the job done
Conclusion
With a full season’s worth of DEFCON data in hand, FPL HQ has had time to bake it into this year’s prices. Managers now need to respond to those adjusted prices and data points. It’s worth noting that Gabriel’s £8.0m price tag isn’t built solely on DEFCON potential – DEFCON points made up a mere ~10.5% of his total last season. That price rise is down to his goal threat instead. The right question to ask here is whether that goal threat continues this year.
DEFCON points have often been viewed as a nailed-on, consistent source of returns, but we might see a fixture-linked trend emerge instead. It’s one worth watching closely as the season unfolds.
Hope you enjoyed reading this, and all the best for the 2026/27 season!
Further reads from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL GW1 of the 2026/27 FPL Season
FPL Basics:
2026/27 FPL Season – New Rules & Changes | What’s New in FPL?
What is Team ID in FPL? | How to Get a Low FPL Team ID for the 2026/27 Season
Best & Funny FPL Team Names for 2026/27 PL Season
Must Read Articles:
Best FPL GW1 Drafts for the 26/27 FPL Season with Pros & Cons
FPL Chip Strategy Guide- Best Windows to Play Free Hit, Wildcard, Triple Captain and Bench Boost
Ultimate DEFCON Analysis: Top Players & Best Opponents to Target
FPL Rotational Pairs and Combinations for 2026/27 FPL Season
Eight Simple FPL Tips to Secure a High Rank | 26/27 Season
FPL Fixture Analysis for 2026/27 Season- Teams with Best and Worst fixtures
Five Must Own Players in GW1 for FPL 2026/27 season
AK’s FPL First Draft & Team Reveal | 3x Top 5K Finishes
Position Analysis:
GKs and Defenders Series:
Best FPL Goalkeepers to Target based on Stats and Fixtures
Best £4.0 Million FPL Defenders for 2026/27 FPL Season
Best Premium Defenders for 2026/27 season based on Stats and Fixtures
Best £5.0-5.5 Million FPL Defenders for the 2026/27 FPL Season
FPL Rotational Pairs and Combinations for 2026/27 FPL Season
Midfielders Series:
Best FPL Premium Midfielders(8.0-12.0) for 2026/27 FPL season
Best Mid-Price FPL Midfielders for the 26/27 Season | £6.5 to 7.5M
Best Value for Money Midfielders for 2026/27 season
Forwards Series:
Best FPL Budget Forwards (£4.5 – £6.0 Million) | 26/27 FPL Season
Best £6m Forwards Comparison for the 2026/27 FPL Season
If you’re new to FPL, here is a link to all our FPL Beginners Guide including FPL Beginner’s Guide- How to play?, Bench boost, Team value, Triple captain, Effective ownership, Price Changes, Free Hit, Bonus Points, and more.
Link to all our 2026/27 Pre-Season articles including all position-wise analysis, team previews, fixture analysis, position-wise analysis, and more. Completely free to access as well!
Thanks for reading the “DEFCON Analysis Guide for 26/27 Season” blog. Keep checking allaboutfpl.com for regular blogs. Also, follow our 250,000+ community on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to stay updated on regular Posts and FPL updates.
What’s next from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL Gameweek 1 of the 2026/27 FPL Season?
We’ll be covering FPL team structures, must-own players, player comparisons, differential picks, fixture analysis, captaincy metrics, multiple FPL drafts with pros and cons, chip strategy, rules guide, beginners guide, FPL tips, and more. Keep checking allaboutfpl.com for all our blogs and subscribe to our free newsletter through the link below. We’ll also be posting regularly about the same on our social media accounts, so follow us on Twitter/X, Instagram, Threads, and Facebook keep our notifications ON.
Our content is always free, and if you like our content, do drop a comment, follow, subscribe, and support us. Your love is what keeps us going:)
