James Garner (£5.2m) has continued his best ever season in Fantasy Premier League by setting TWO records for defensive contributions in Everton's 1-0 win against Aston Villa in Gameweek 22.
The Toffees midfielder earned two points for his defensive contributions for the seventh successive Gameweek, the longest run of any player in 2025/26 Fantasy.
See: Defensive contributions new to Fantasy in 2025/26
It beats the previous record of six successive matches that was jointly held by AFC Bournemouth’s Marcos Senesi (£4.8m) and Fulham's Joachim Andersen (£4.6m).
However, Everton's James Tarkowski (£5.7m) and Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson (£5.3m) are currently on their own six-match runs over Gameweeks 17-22 and could beat Garner's record if his own sequence ends.
Most consecutive matches with defensive contribution points 25/26
| Player | Period | Matches |
|---|---|---|
| Garner | GW16-22 | 7 |
| Senesi | GW1-6 | 6 |
| Andersen | GW2-7 | 6 |
| Tarkowski, Anderson | GW17-22 | 6 |
Garner's total of 29 defensive contributions in a single match against Villa also set a record, beating the previous best of 25 set by Brighton & Hove Albion's Mats Wieffer (£4.9m) against Nottingham Forest in Gameweek 13.
Most defensive contributions in a single match 25/26
| Player | GW/Opponent | DC |
|---|---|---|
| Garner | GW22, AVL (A) | 29 |
| Wieffer | GW13, NFO (A) | 25 |
| M.Fernandes | GW15, BHA (A) | 23 |
| Szoboszlai | GW9, BRE (A) | 22 |
| Thiaw | GW16, SUN (A) | 22 |
| Anderson | GW21, WHU (A) | 22 |
Garner's display at Villa Park took his total to 22 points from defensive contributions this season, second only to the 30 of Forest's Anderson among midfielders in Fantasy.
The Everton star is also enjoying the most prolific campaign for attacking returns in his Fantasy career, scoring two goals and supplying three assists.
Those many routes to returns have helped Garner amass 99 points so far, already bettering his career-high of 87 points in the 2023/24 campaign.
Indeed, when you factor in Garner's current cost of just £5.2m in Fantasy, he is the No 1 midfielder or forward for value, returning 19.0 points per million spent.