OddAlerts | In-Play Football Alerts
Login

Join The Team!

A signing like no other...

Name
Email
Password
Selected Plan:
Pro£19.99/m
Pro w/ API£69.99/m
Season Ticket£179.99
... Close

FPL Defensive Contributions 2026/27

Every Premier League outfielder ranked by how often they clear their own DefCon threshold.

Player Explorer Rate My Team Team Builder Fixture Ticker Defensive Contributions
DEF 10 actions in a match

Clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles.

MID FWD 12 actions in a match

The same four, plus ball recoveries.

2 points, once per match

Ten actions and twenty actions pay exactly the same.

Most reliable DEF Mats Wieffer DEF BHA · £5.0m · 0.3% owned
72% of matches over 10
Most reliable MID Joao Gomes MID AVL · £5.5m · 0.3% owned
76% of matches over 12
Most reliable FWD Richarlison de Andrade FWD TOT · £6.0m · 1.7% owned
3% of matches over 12

DefCon leaderboard

80 players
Premier League outfield players ranked by the share of matches in which they clear their Fantasy Premier League defensive contribution threshold, 2026/27 season. Defenders need 10 defensive actions, midfielders and forwards need 12. Minimum 450 minutes played.
# Player Price Owned Mins Actions per 90 vs threshold Hit rate Pts/90 Per £m
1 Joao Gomes MID AVL £5.5m 0.3% 2,207 14.2 76% 1.52 0.28
2 Mats Wieffer DEF BHA £5.0m 0.3% 1,901 11.6 72% 1.45 0.29
3 Elliot Anderson MID MCI £6.5m 12.1% 3,332 13.1 65% 1.31 0.20
4 Marcos Senesi Barón DEF TOT £6.0m 11.0% 3,288 10.9 65% 1.31 0.22
5 Kevin Danso DEF TOT £5.0m 0.2% 1,489 10.6 61% 1.22 0.24
6 James Hill DEF BOU £5.5m 1.3% 2,102 10.4 59% 1.19 0.22
7 Daniel Ballard DEF SUN £5.0m 3.1% 2,144 10.4 59% 1.18 0.24
8 Jaydee Canvot DEF CRY £5.0m 0.5% 1,331 10.4 59% 1.17 0.23
9 Maxence Lacroix DEF CHE £6.0m 12.1% 3,085 10.3 58% 1.17 0.19
10 Lewis Cook MID BOU £5.0m 0.1% 872 12.2 56% 1.11 0.22
11 Ryan Sessegnon DEF FUL £4.5m 0.4% 1,816 10.1 55% 1.11 0.25
12 Rodrigo Bentancur MID TOT £5.5m 0.1% 1,880 12.1 55% 1.10 0.20
13 Wesley Fofana DEF CHE £5.0m 0.0% 1,718 10.1 55% 1.10 0.22
14 Manuel Ugarte Ribeiro MID MUN £5.0m 0.0% 876 12.1 55% 1.09 0.22
15 Michael Keane DEF EVE £5.0m 1.5% 2,588 10.0 54% 1.09 0.22
16 Jorge Cuenca Barreno DEF FUL £4.5m 0.0% 935 10.0 54% 1.08 0.24
17 Sven Botman DEF NEW £5.0m 0.4% 1,834 10.0 54% 1.07 0.21
18 Joachim Andersen DEF FUL £5.0m 0.1% 2,882 9.9 53% 1.05 0.21
19 Jaka Bijol DEF LEE £5.0m 0.3% 1,888 9.8 52% 1.04 0.21
20 James Tarkowski DEF EVE £6.0m 9.8% 3,330 9.8 52% 1.04 0.17
21 Tosin Adarabioyo DEF CHE £4.5m 0.1% 788 9.7 51% 1.01 0.23
22 Omar Alderete DEF SUN £5.0m 1.2% 2,797 9.7 50% 1.00 0.20
23 Chris Richards DEF CRY £5.0m 0.8% 2,825 9.6 49% 0.97 0.19
24 Alex Scott MID BOU £6.0m 1.6% 2,848 11.5 48% 0.97 0.16
25 James Garner MID EVE £6.0m 1.0% 3,413 11.5 48% 0.97 0.16
26 Ethan Ampadu MID LEE £5.5m 1.4% 3,119 11.4 47% 0.94 0.17
27 Nathan Collins DEF BRE £5.5m 2.0% 2,971 9.4 46% 0.92 0.17
28 Moisés Caicedo Corozo MID CHE £5.5m 3.8% 2,796 11.2 44% 0.88 0.16
29 Rodrigo 'Rodri' Hernandez Cascante MID MCI £6.5m 0.1% 1,510 11.1 44% 0.87 0.13
30 Kristoffer Ajer DEF BRE £4.5m 0.9% 1,805 9.2 43% 0.86 0.19
31 Felipe Rodrigues da Silva DEF NFO £5.0m 0.1% 1,340 9.1 43% 0.85 0.17
32 Cristian Romero DEF TOT £5.0m 1.1% 1,869 9.1 42% 0.85 0.17
33 Murillo Costa dos Santos DEF NFO £5.5m 0.2% 2,130 9.1 42% 0.85 0.15
34 Virgil van Dijk DEF LIV £6.5m 16.2% 3,420 9.1 42% 0.84 0.13
35 Tyler Adams MID BOU £5.0m 0.7% 1,769 10.9 41% 0.82 0.16
36 Yehor Yarmoliuk MID BRE £5.0m 1.6% 2,652 10.9 41% 0.81 0.16
37 Nico González Iglesias MID MCI £5.5m 0.1% 1,561 10.9 41% 0.81 0.15
38 Dan Burn DEF NEW £5.0m 2.7% 2,195 8.9 40% 0.81 0.16
39 Ibrahim Sangaré MID NFO £5.0m 0.4% 2,073 10.8 40% 0.80 0.16
40 Fabian Schär DEF NEW £5.0m 0.2% 1,089 8.9 40% 0.80 0.16
41 Pascal Struijk DEF BHA £5.0m 0.5% 2,935 8.9 40% 0.80 0.16
42 Pape Matar Sarr MID TOT £5.0m 0.4% 1,388 10.8 39% 0.79 0.16
43 Gabriel dos Santos Magalhães DEF ARS £8.0m 25.6% 2,750 8.9 39% 0.79 0.10
44 Granit Xhaka MID SUN £5.5m 6.2% 2,901 10.7 39% 0.77 0.14
45 Jefferson Lerma Solís MID CRY £5.0m 0.1% 1,722 10.7 38% 0.76 0.15
46 Jan Paul van Hecke DEF TOT £5.0m 8.1% 3,210 8.7 38% 0.75 0.15
47 Malick Thiaw DEF NEW £5.0m 2.3% 2,963 8.7 37% 0.74 0.15
48 Sepp van den Berg DEF BRE £5.0m 0.7% 2,761 8.7 37% 0.74 0.15
49 Carlos Baleba MID BHA £5.0m 0.6% 1,646 10.6 37% 0.74 0.15
50 Tim Iroegbunam MID EVE £5.0m 0.1% 1,477 10.6 37% 0.74 0.15
51 Mateus Fernandes MID TOT £6.0m 4.0% 3,017 10.6 37% 0.73 0.12
52 Nordi Mukiele DEF SUN £5.5m 7.6% 2,784 8.7 37% 0.73 0.13
53 Vitaly Janelt MID BRE £5.0m 0.1% 1,434 10.5 36% 0.73 0.15
54 Declan Rice MID ARS £7.5m 22.3% 3,093 10.5 36% 0.72 0.10
55 Ayden Heaven DEF MUN £4.5m 0.3% 920 8.6 36% 0.72 0.16
56 Amadou Onana MID AVL £5.0m 0.0% 1,755 10.5 36% 0.71 0.14
57 Curtis Jones MID LIV £5.5m 0.1% 1,923 10.4 35% 0.70 0.13
58 James Justin DEF LEE £4.5m 0.5% 1,893 8.5 34% 0.69 0.15
59 Joelinton Cássio Apolinário de Lira MID NEW £5.5m 0.0% 1,950 10.3 34% 0.68 0.12
60 Trevoh Chalobah DEF CHE £5.5m 2.1% 2,780 8.4 34% 0.68 0.12
61 Benoît Badiashile Mukinayi DEF CHE £4.5m 0.0% 470 8.4 34% 0.67 0.15
62 Piero Hincapié DEF ARS £5.5m 4.6% 1,787 8.4 33% 0.67 0.12
63 Jarrad Branthwaite DEF EVE £5.5m 1.9% 678 8.4 33% 0.66 0.12
64 Olivier Boscagli DEF BHA £4.5m 0.1% 799 8.4 33% 0.66 0.15
65 Adam Wharton MID CRY £5.5m 0.2% 2,552 10.2 33% 0.65 0.12
66 Cristhian Mosquera DEF ARS £5.5m 17.2% 986 8.3 33% 0.65 0.12
67 Noussair Mazraoui DEF MUN £4.5m 0.8% 977 8.3 33% 0.65 0.14
68 Ryan Christie MID BOU £5.0m 0.1% 978 10.1 32% 0.63 0.13
69 Joe Rodon DEF LEE £4.5m 1.9% 2,952 8.3 31% 0.63 0.14
70 Nikola Milenković DEF NFO £5.5m 2.2% 3,375 8.2 31% 0.62 0.11
71 Mikkel Damsgaard MID BRE £5.5m 0.7% 2,046 10.1 31% 0.62 0.11
72 Nicolás Domínguez MID NFO £5.0m 0.1% 1,168 10.1 31% 0.62 0.12
73 Kenny Tete DEF FUL £4.5m 0.2% 1,791 8.2 30% 0.61 0.13
74 Yasin Ayari MID BHA £5.5m 0.5% 1,921 10.0 30% 0.60 0.11
75 Harry Maguire DEF MUN £5.0m 7.4% 1,649 8.1 30% 0.59 0.12
76 Antonee Robinson DEF FUL £4.5m 3.1% 1,487 8.1 30% 0.59 0.13
77 Bafodé Diakité DEF BOU £5.0m 0.2% 1,275 8.1 30% 0.59 0.12
78 Matthijs de Ligt DEF MUN £5.0m 0.0% 1,170 8.1 29% 0.58 0.12
79 Leny Yoro DEF MUN £5.0m 0.6% 1,730 8.0 29% 0.57 0.11
80 Adrien Truffert DEF BOU £5.5m 4.6% 3,378 8.0 28% 0.56 0.10

clears the threshold on average within 15% of it short of it the player's own threshold
Minimum 450 minutes played. Per-90 rates are adjusted for sample size, and hit rate is the modelled chance of clearing the threshold in a full match at that rate, which is what puts a defender on 9.5 actions and a midfielder on 11 on the same scale.

Where the actions come from

Average defensive actions per 90 across every qualifying outfielder at each club. Sides that spend the game without the ball generate the actions, so this is really a map of where to shop — and a warning, because the same clubs tend to concede the clean sheets you also want.

  • Bournemouth 8.5 2 over 50%
  • Everton 8.3 2 over 50%
  • Spurs 8.1 3 over 50%
  • Fulham 8.0 3 over 50%
  • Brentford 7.9 0 over 50%
  • Crystal Palace 7.8 1 over 50%
  • Leeds 7.8 1 over 50%
  • Man Utd 7.8 1 over 50%
  • Brighton 7.7 1 over 50%
  • Aston Villa 7.5 1 over 50%
  • Sunderland 7.5 2 over 50%
  • Man City 7.4 1 over 50%
  • Chelsea 7.3 3 over 50%
  • Newcastle 7.3 1 over 50%
  • Nott'm Forest 7.3 0 over 50%
  • Ipswich Town 7.2 0 over 50%
  • Arsenal 7.1 0 over 50%
  • Liverpool 6.9 0 over 50%

What are defensive contributions in FPL?

Defensive contributions, shortened to DefCon by most managers, are the defensive actions Fantasy Premier League awards points for. A defender scores two points in any match where their clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles add up to ten or more. A midfielder or forward needs twelve, and ball recoveries count toward their total as well as those four actions. Goalkeepers are not scored this way at all; they are rewarded through saves.

The critical detail is that this is a threshold, not a rate. The two points are awarded once per match, so a defender who records ten actions and a defender who records twenty score exactly the same. That single fact changes how you should shop for the statistic, and it is where most defensive contribution content goes wrong.

Why the table above is not sorted on the average

Because the points are a threshold, what you are buying is not a player's average but how often they cross the line. The hit rate column converts each player's rate into the chance of clearing their own bar in a full match, and that is what the board is ranked on by default. It matters most when comparing positions: a defender averaging 9.5 actions is a far better bet for two points than a midfielder averaging 11, because the defender needs ten and the midfielder needs twelve. Sorted on the raw average, the midfielder looks the better player. Sorted on hit rate, the truth shows up.

Two caveats worth stating plainly. The hit rate is modelled from the rate rather than counted from match logs, so it assumes a player's actions arrive at a steady tempo; a genuinely streaky player will beat or miss it. And the rates themselves are adjusted for sample size, because a substitute who made one tackle in one minute of football is not a 90-actions-per-90 player, and a raw per-90 column puts exactly that kind of noise at the top. Only players past 450 minutes appear here at all.

How to actually use this

Defensive contributions are worth roughly two points a week to a player who reliably clears the threshold, which over a season is comparable to a handful of goals. That makes them most valuable in cheap defenders and mid-priced midfielders, where two points a week is a large share of what you are paying for, and close to irrelevant in premium attackers you own for goals. The per £m column is that argument in a number: filter to £5.0m and under and sort on it to find the budget picks doing the work.

The trap is buying the statistic in isolation. A midfielder at a club that concedes possession will rack up actions precisely because his team is defending, which usually means fewer attacking returns and fewer clean sheets. That tension is visible in the club table above: the sides at the top generate the most actions and are rarely the sides you want for clean sheets. The players worth owning are the ones who clear the threshold at clubs that also keep the ball out of their own net, and the fixture ticker is where you check the second half of that.

To weigh defensive contributions against everything else a player does, the player explorer has actions per 90 as a sortable column alongside price, minutes and every attacking metric, and the team rater prices the threshold into every projection it makes.