The Scout on the big winners in the new defensive contributions metric across the opening 11 Gameweeks of 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League.
Which players and positions have benefited the most?
The table below shows the 22 players who have earned a minimum of 10 points from defensive contributions.
Defenders are by far the top performers, supplying 15, with seven midfielders also impressing.
Notably, it's the centre-backs that we should be targeting, with the anomaly being Brighton & Hove Albion's right-back Mats Wieffer (£4.9m), who is classified as a midfielder in the game.
Indeed, Wieffer is among only four players - along with AFC Bournemouth's Marcos Senesi (£5.0m), Fulham centre-back Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) and Burnley midfielder Florentino (£5.0m) - to surpass the 63.6 per cent success of Everton centre-back James Tarkowski (£5.4m), who would have been the top-scoring player for defensive contributions last season, with 44 points.
Although just seven midfielders feature here, it's notable that three of them - Chelsea's Moises Caicedo (£6.1m), Burnley's Josh Cullen (£5.0m) and Sunderland's Granit Xhaka (£5.2m) - are also among the 10 top-scoring midfielders overall, showing how defensive contributions are playing a big part in the player standings this season.
Most defensive contribution points
| Player (Position) | Starts with DC | % matches with DC | Pts |
| Senesi (DEF) | 9/11 | 81.8% | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andersen (DEF) | 7/10 | 70.0% | 14 |
| Tarkowski (DEF) | 7/11 | 63.6% | 14 |
| Collins, Lacroix, Richards, Van Dijk (DEF) | 6/11 | 54.5% | 12 |
| Anderson, Xhaka (MID) | 6/11 | 54.5% | 12 |
| Wieffer (MID) | 5/7 | 71.4% | 10 |
| Florentino (MID) | 5/7 | 71.4% | 10 |
| Mukiele (DEF) | 5/9 | 55.6% | 10 |
| Guehi (DEF) | 5/10 | 50.0% | 10 |
| Caicedo, Palhinha (MID) | 5/10 | 50.0% | 10 |
| Van den Berg, Van Hecke, Esteve, Keane, Konate, Burn (DEF) | 5/11 | 45.4% | 10 |
| Cullen (MID) | 5/11 | 45.4% | 10 |
Scroll across to see the full table on mobile
Which clubs are profiting the most and why?
One of the easiest ways to work out the clubs most likely to reward you with defensive contribution points is by looking at the teams who have had the least possession this season.
It stands to reason that those sides will be the ones who make the most defensive actions, as they need to win the ball back.
Indeed, of those 22 players with at least 10 defensive contribution points to their name, a combined 12 play for the top five sides with the lowest possession.
The bottom two here, Burnley and Crystal Palace, each supply three players for the table above.
In the Clarets' case, Florentiino's 10 points have been equalled by his fellow midfielder Cullen and centre-back Maxime Esteve (£3.9m).
For Palace, it's all about the trio of centre-backs in their 3-4-2-1 formation.
Similarly to Bournemouth's Senesi, Marc Guehi (£5.1m) has kept up with the Arsenal full-backs thanks to his multiple routes to returns. The England star places third among defenders on 64 points, combining his 10 defensive contribution points with one goal, three assists and four clean sheets.
Meanwhile, his team-mates Maxence Lacroix (£5.0m) and Chris Richards (£4.5m) have collected 12 points each.
Everton's and Brentford's centre-backs are also being kept busy, with Tarkowski and his team-mate Michael Keane (£4.5m) joined by the Bees' Nathan Collins (£4.9m) and Sepp van den Berg (£4.5m).
For Sunderland, centre-back Nordi Mukiele (£4.2m) and the aforementioned Xhaka are the likeliest to reward you.
Clubs with the lowest possession
| Club | Possession | No. of players with 10+ DC pts |
| Burnley | 38.8% | 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Crystal Palace | 41.8% | 3 |
| Brentford | 42.3% | 2 |
| Sunderland | 43.6% | 2 |
| Everton | 44.3% | 2 |
Both Brighton and Liverpool each supply two defenders among the best performers, with the Seagulls' centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.4m) one to consider as a budget rotation pick ahead of a kind upcoming schedule.
How defensive contribution points have helped Senesi keep pace with Arsenal pair
Senesi has been the main beneficiary from the new defensive contributions (DC) metric over the opening 11 Gameweeks of 2025/26.
The Argentina international has collected an additional 18 points to place sixth in the defender standings on 58 points.
A comparison with Jurrien Timber (£6.1m) and Riccardo Calafiori (£5.8m) shows why Senesi's defensive contributions are allowing him to keep pace with the Arsenal pair. Although they have helped their side to a league-high seven clean sheets and also produced more attacking returns than Senesi, neither of the Gunners' full-backs have collected any points for their defensive contributions.
Senesi comparison v Arsenal full-backs
| G+A | CS* | DC | Pts | |
| Timber | 4 | 6 | 0 | 67 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calafiori | 3 | 7 | 0 | 61 |
| Senesi | 2 | 4 | 18 | 58 |
*Clean sheets. Scroll across to see the full table on mobile