The Scout highlights the budget midfielders who could profit most from defensive contribution points in 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League.
Managers have typically spent £4.5m in previous seasons on a cheap midfielder to sit on their bench in case of injury emergencies.
However, the introduction of the new defensive contribution points now lifts the value of a host of £5.0m midfield assets in Fantasy.
See: What are defensive contribution points?
Brighton & Hove Albion’s Carlos Baleba (£5.0m) can prove one of the handiest options in that budget price bracket.
He would have earned 30 extra points from his defensive contributions last season, placing him joint-fifth among all midfielders for the extra points on offer.
The Cameroonian would have been a reliable source of those returns, earning defensive contribution (DC) points in 48.4 per cent of his 31 starts.
His team-mate Mats Wieffer (£5.0m) is one to monitor if he can secure a regular role. Limited to just 10 starts partly due to injury, he collected points in 60 per cent of those outings - the highest percentage in the table below.
Top £5.0m midfielders for 2024/25 DC points
| Player | DC pts | Starts | % starts with DC pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baleba | 30 | 31 | 48.4% |
| Lerma | 28 | 26 | 53.9% |
| Christie | 26 | 27 | 48.2% |
| Adams | 22 | 21 | 52.4% |
| Onana | 16 | 30 | 40.0% |
| Wieffer | 12 | 10 | 60.0% |
| Wharton | 10 | 16 | 31.3% |
AFC Bournemouth duo Ryan Christie and Tyler Adams are also among the top names in the £5.0m midfield price range for defensive contributions.
Christie bettered his team-mate by 26 points to 22 and is also the likelier starter of the two, named in the Cherries’ first XI on 27 occasions compared with the 21 of Adams.
Crystal Palace pair Jefferson Lerma and Adam Wharton (both £5.0m), along with Aston Villa’s Amadou Onana (£5.0m), are further names who will be lifted by the new rules.
Lerma looks the most appealing of the trio – his 26 points and 53.9 per cent success rate each rank top among the three players in the table above.