Changes have been made to Fantasy Premier League’s (FPL) Bonus Points System for the upcoming season.
While not seismic enough to radically alter most FPL managers’ plans, the little tweaks will benefit some players – and punish others.
So, what would have happened if these alterations had been in effect last season? You’re about to find out…
The real brains behind this piece is TopMarx, who has crunched the numbers and allowed us to write up the findings. Our huge thanks to him for the ‘assist’ to this tap-in of an article.
HOW DOES THE BONUS POINTS SYSTEM WORK?
If you’re new to FPL or wonder where the actual bonus points spring from every Gameweek, here’s a quick rundown of the Bonus Points System (BPS).
The BPS utilises a range of statistics supplied by Opta, who capture actions on the pitch to create a performance score for every player.
These actions range from scoring a goal, assisting and keeping a clean sheet to successful dribbles, recoveries and pass completion.
You can read more about these actions here.
The players with the top three BPS scores in a given match receive FPL bonus points – three points to the highest-scoring player, two to the second best and one to the third.
WHAT ARE THE BONUS POINTS SYSTEM CHANGES IN 2024/25?
The adjustments to the BPS for 2024/25 are as follows:
| Action | BPS score in 2023/24 | BPS score in 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper saving a penalty | 15 | 9 |
| Goalkeepers/defenders conceding a goal | N/A | -4 |
| Goalline clearance | N/A | 3 |
| Foul won | N/A | 1 |
| Shot on target | N/A | 2 |
Even before TopMarx has done the arithmetic, it isn’t hard to see who is going to lose out (mostly goalkeepers and defenders) and who is going to benefit (shot-taking, serially fouled attackers).
DON’T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS…
It’s not just the BPS scoring system that is changing in 2024/25.
Get ready to see your bonus points change over the course of a Gameweek – and the results of tight head-to-head mini-league matches potentially flip.
FPL managers have grown accustomed to seeing their player points locked in an hour after the final match on any given day.
But this season, that will no longer be the case.
Now, there is a new “final review period” – which is approximately one hour after the last fixture of the Gameweek.
That means all Fantasy points are subject to change until this point. Contentious goal accreditations are fairly rare so the main impact will be on bonus points.
There is, surprisingly, often some notable differences between data collected on matchday and the final tally after review. This review process is typically done within 24 hours of full-time.
TopMarx has done the calculations and worked out that the bonus points would have been different in 137 of the 380 matches last season, had the revised BPS been reflected.
Here is who the winners and losers would have been after those recalculations – with no discernible pattern to the chaos:
TOP 10: LOSERS AND WINNERS
So, then, factoring in the review process and the BPS tweaks, here are the new scores on the doors:
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