Understanding FPL Bonus Points 2026-27

The Bonus Points System uses a weighted formula that Opta applies to every player in each match. The formula rewards: goals scored (highly weighted), assists, key passes, successful dribbles, tackles won, clearances, interceptions, clean sheets, saves (for goalkeepers), and penalty saves — while penalising goals conceded, yellow cards, red cards, and own goals.

Each action has a fixed BPS value. A goal scored earns the highest base BPS (12 for a striker, more for defenders and midfielders because goals are rarer). An assist earns 9 BPS. A key pass (that leads to a shot) earns 1 BPS. A successful dribble earns 1 BPS. A tackle won earns 2 BPS. This means a player who scored and assisted in a match will typically accumulate 20+ BPS before any defensive actions are counted.

After all BPS values are summed, the top three players in the match receive 3, 2, and 1 bonus points respectively. Ties mean multiple players can receive the same allocation — if two players are tied for first, both get 3 bonus points and the third-place player receives 1.

Goal scorers almost always top the BPS chart in their match. A player who scores twice and assists once will rarely be beaten for bonus points regardless of what their teammates do. This makes goal-line strikers and penalty takers the most consistent bonus collectors in FPL — they accumulate match-winning BPS values that are hard to beat even with an outstanding defensive performance.

Midfielders in central playmaker roles (rather than wide) tend to earn more BPS from key passes and assists, giving them a bonus floor even on non-scoring weeks. Wide forwards earn mostly from direct goal involvement. Budget defenders earn inconsistent bonus — their BPS is driven by clean sheets and rare attacking returns, so they collect bonus in batches rather than steadily.

Goalkeepers are the exception: a goalkeeper who saves a penalty earns a large BPS spike (15 BPS for a penalty save), making them near-certain bonus winners that match. Even without penalty saves, a goalkeeper who makes 6+ saves in a game typically collects significant BPS from the saves-volume component.

The practical implication for squad building is to prioritise players who touch the ball in direct goal-involvement roles. Penalty takers earn BPS from taking the penalty (whether scored or not) and score bonus if they convert. Set-piece deliverers earn key pass BPS from corners and free kicks that lead to shots. Central strikers in aggressive pressing systems earn high tackle-and-duel BPS alongside their goal involvement.

The players to avoid from a bonus perspective are wide midfielders who rarely take shots, rotational players who see limited ball contact, and second strikers in rigid partner-striker systems where goal involvement is split unpredictably. These players can contribute standard points but rarely collect the bonus that separates a 7-point return from a 10-point one.

You do not need to build a squad entirely around BPS optimisation — it is one factor among many. But when choosing between two players at similar price points with similar expected goal involvement, the one with a cleaner BPS profile (central role, goal-scoring history, set-piece involvement) will tend to deliver higher average points per game.

FPL's live BPS scores update throughout each match, and provisional bonus allocations appear in the FPL app and on data sites during games. These are provisional — they can change after match review, particularly in the first hour after full time when official goal attribution and assist records are finalised.

Monitoring live BPS helps with last-minute captain decisions in gameweeks with staggered kickoffs. If your Saturday captain has already blanked (low BPS, no goal involvement) and you have a Sunday option, the live BPS data tells you whether the switch is worth making before the Sunday deadline. This is one reason why having captain options across multiple fixture windows is strategically valuable.