With the launch of the Daily Star’s new FPL league, football expert Ed Easton has all the inside knowledge on which stars are set to score highly in this year’s game
Like TV remotes, parking meters and your relationship with your mum, Fantasy Premier League has got a lot more complicated over time.
While it used to be a case of picking the blokes you thought would score the most goals, and then throwing in a few defenders you hoped would keep them out, modern-day players now have to consider the likes of bonus points, chip strategies and defensive contributions when selecting a team.
To make matters worse, social media has become chock-a-block with a million so-called experts telling their followers exactly who to pick every week, meaning half the players have pretty much the same team by about November, and those that don’t are often miles behind. Luckily for you, there is another way. The Daily Star has put football expert Ed Easton to task to discover how armchair managers can win their mini-leagues without copying someone else’s homework.
And what’s more, whoever ends up winning the brand new Daily Star league, hopefully boosted by Ed’s brilliant tips, will end up winning a massive Daily Star prize package, including merch, a VIP tour of Daily Star HQ, and much, much more.
You’ll also get the chance to play against top football writers and experts, and hopefully show them up with your superior football knowledge.
You can join the league by clicking here or by typing the code 9ub6q0 into the FPL website.
In this first article, we’re starting with the confusing world of DefCon, which, if you can wrap your head around it, will put you halfway to winning your league.
It was DefCon what won it…
It may sound like some sort of Doctor Who villain, but the addition of DefCon, or defensive contributions to use its government name, has completely changed how you need to play FPL.
In short, DefCon rewards players who perform previously unrewarded defensive actions, including blocks, interceptions, clearances and tackles, as well as recoveries for midfielders.
If defenders make 10 of these defensive contributions, or midfielders make 12, they receive two DefCon points, something which has turned brutish centre-backs and unfashionable defensive midfielders into absolute FPL superstars.
The likes of James Garner and Elliot Anderson in midfield, or James Tarkowski and Marcos Senesi at the back, all scored mega points despite not collecting especially many goals, assists or clean sheets.
For context, Bournemouth’s James Hill hit the DefCon threshold of 10 in just over 63% of his games last season, which averages out at about 24 over a full 38-match campaign. If he does the same next season, he could grab as many as 48 points by the end of the campaign, and that’s before any extras for goals, clean sheets and the like.
To put that number into perspective, the same number of points would require Hill to have scored an extra eight goals, got 16 more assists, or twelve extra clean sheets. So unless you think you’ve stumbled upon the next Julian Dicks or Trent Alexander-Arnold , focusing on defenders’ ability to score or create is very much yesterday’s news. Boring is back, baby.
While some of these DefCon superstars have seen massive price hikes or transfer switches that make them slightly less appealing prospects, there are a few hidden gems you may want to pick up for a cheap and reliable source of points. Today, we’re going to focus on the defenders.
With DefCon defenders, what you’re looking for is the big man who puts himself about. It’s that simple.
If he’s big, wins headers, boots it long and goes towards the ball rather than standing off, he’s likely to score big.
First things first, watch the games! There’s a record number of new managers in the league this season, and that means brand new systems and, in many cases, brand new signings. If you spot that one of De Zerbi’s Spurs defenders is rushing out to meet the attack more than the other, or somebody in Alonso’s Chelsea back three is doing the lion’s share of the defending, they could be a handy source of DefCon.
Based on last season, a few players have emerged as potential monsters already.
As mentioned, many of the DefCon heavy-hitters have seen big price rises, but there are a few hanging around in the bargain bin.
At £4m, Ipswich’s big man Issa Diop (£4m) has emerged as a popular pick. While the Tractor Boys aren’t expected to bag too many clean sheets, Diop is likely to have lots of defending to do and is no stranger to getting stuck in with a big header or crunching tackle. He has been known to grab the odd goal too.
Brentford stalwart Kristoffer Ajer (£4.5m) is not a guaranteed starter for the Bees, something reflected by his price. However, with fellow CB Sepp van den Berg out for at least two to three months with injury, the Norwegian should see a decent run in the first team. Averaging around 9.5 DefCon a game, the big man feels like a potential bargain, at least until Van den Berg returns.
A player that few FPL managers are talking about is Antonee Robinson (£4.5m) of Fulham. While not quite fitting the mould of the all-action centre-back you’d expect to find in this list, Robinson averaged nearly 11 DefCons per 90 last season, meaning you’d expect him to hit the threshold fairly often. He’s added to that with an impressive 11.6/90 in pre-season under new boss Alvaro Arbeloa, and if that’s not convincing enough, the American also takes penalties for Fulham on occasion and is a regular source of assists too.
There are a host of great DefCon options priced at £5m or more, with the likes of Crystal Palace’s Jaydee Canvot (£5m) , Leeds’ Tarik Muharemović (£5m) and Brighton’s Luka Vušković (£5m) all decent options to keep an eye on.
Our left-field shout at the £5.5m mark is Nottingham Forest’s Nikola Milenković (£5.5m) . Under Oliver Glasner at Crystal Palace, both Marc Guéhi and Maxence Lacroix regularly smashed DefCon while in the middle of the back three and finished among the highest-scoring defenders in the game. At Forest, that role is set to be taken up by the big Serbian, so expect him to continue those exploits this campaign.
One man to avoid in defence is last season’s highest DefCon scorer Marcos Senesi (£6m) , who may not be a guaranteed starter after a move to Spurs and costs a whopping £6m to pick up.
Follow @EastonBall on X (twitter) for more FPL tips and keep an eye out for the next article on the best bargain midfielders.
You can join the league by clicking here or by typing the code 9ub6q0 into the FPL website.