The once straight forward Fantasy Premier League grows increasingly complicated, with changes to the points system, transfers and chips this season.
The game has become more and more admin-heavy over the years, so it is important to keep on track of the new rules and regulations each season.
There is always going to be someone in your league who is on top of everything and you don’t want to fall behind because you are not as clued up.
Picking the best players is just half the battle, deciding when to play the vast array of chips and take advantage of extra transfers are more things to worry about.
Do not worry, though, we have got you covered on the things you need to know before the season gets underway.
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The new Premier League campaign begins on Friday night as defending champions Liverpool host Bournemouth at Anfield.
That’s the first stumbling block you must hurdle, don’t miss the first deadline of the season on Friday at 6.30pm! Otherwise, here’s everything you need to know.
Defensive contribution points
There are now going to be points on offer for players who make clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles.
This means defensive midfielders will become a much more appealing option than they ever have before – although that is not hard as they were a complete non-starter before.
Defenders of bottom half teams will also get a boost as they get more chances to make the defensive contributions.
FPL have done the maths for last season and it was Everton’s James Tarkowski who would have earned the most defensive contribution points, with a whopping extra 44 over the season. That’s big!
Defenders who make a combined total of 10 clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles in a game will get two extra points.
Midfielders and forwards can also earn these points and will be credited for clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles AND ball recoveries.
However, they need to make a combined 12 of those actions to land two points.
Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo would have been a big hit for this last season, racking up an extra 42 points.
Extra transfers
The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) funs from December 21 to January 18 this season and has been a headache for FPL managers in the past.
However, the kindly fantasy overlords have dished out some extra transfers this season to deal with the disruption to your team.
The tournament will cover Gameweeks 17-22, so in Gameweek 16 there will be FIVE free transfers available.
Make sure you have no free transfers by the end of Gameweek 15 to cash in on all five AFCON freebies.
More chips!
This is where your admin skills really need to be deployed, because there are now eight chips to use this season.
The Wildcard, Triple Captain, Free Hit and Bench Boost chips are back but now you can use them all in the first half of the season and again in the second.
You will be able to use all four chips up until the Gameweek 19 deadline on December 30 and then again after that date. They cannot be carried over.
The Wildcard has been available twice in recent seasons, the other three chips are now joining it.
Last year’s bizarre and quite annoying Assistant Manager chip has been binned, quite rightly.
There have been other changes this season, with the way assists are registered tweaked and minor alterations to the bonus system, but life really is too short to worry about such things.
