"Who got the assist?". If you've ever told a mate about a goal and been met with that question in response, there's a very strong chance they are asking because they want to know if one of their Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players has earned them points.
Millions of players around the world will be keeping a close eye on score apps and TV screens throughout the Premier League season, particularly when it comes to goals, assists, clean sheets and red cards.
If you're new to the game or just need a refresher, here's how players score you FPL points... and how they can even lose you points if they're not careful.
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How do you score points in FPL?
The basics
Fundamentally, you're picking a 15-man squad of the Premier League players that you think will do best over the season. You can only have up to three players from any one club.
You start with a budget of £100m, with players given 'transfer fees' by FPL based on how likely they are considered to be to score points - so Erling Haaland costs a whopping £15m, while a substitute goalkeeper who never plays will only be valued at £4.0.
That 15-man squad must be made up of two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and three forwards.
The values change over the season, so getting in early on good players can be key. You can make transfers, but are only allowed one free transfer per week (which, if unused, can be rolled over stockpiled for a maximum of five free transfers), and must remain within the £100m budget. Any extra transfers you do beyond this cost you 4 points.
From that 15-man squad, you pick your first XI and four subs. You have to have one goalkeeper and at least three defenders in your first XI, otherwise you can put them in whatever formation you want.
You also pick a captain and vice-captain. Captains get double points; if they don't play at all that week, the double points bonus transfers to the vice captain. And if neither of them play at all, sorry, no double points for you.
Minutes played
The baseline points scoring method is through appearances. Anyone who plays 60 minutes or more in a game (excluding stoppage time in either half) earns 2 points automatically. Playing less than that will earn a player 1 point.
It's worth keeping in mind that you have a subs' bench in FPL, players from which only becomes active in the event that at least one of your selected first XI doesn't play at all - otherwise, subs' points meaningless (unless you've played your once-per-season 'bench boost' chip, which means all 15 players' points are counted).
If one of your selected XI plays, say, ten minutes and does nothing else, they'll get 1 point and keep one of your substitutes out of action. The nightmare scenario is for that to happen, meaning one of your subs stays benched despite having racked up 15 points - so pick your subs carefully!
Anecdotally, Manchester City are particularly irritating for this: although their players naturally rack up a lot of points over a season, Guardiola's rotation policy makes it difficult to know exactly which players to select on a game by game basis.
Goals and assists
The most obvious route to points, players are of course awarded points for involvement on the scoresheet through both goals and assists.
The points given for goals differ by position. For forwards, they're only worth 4 points. FPL only tends to designate central strikers as forwards, however; most wingers - including Mo Salah, Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka - are considered midfielders, and thus their goals are worth 5 points.
Defenders get 6 points per goal, while the rare vanishingly rare goalkeeper goal is worth 10 points.
Assists are no different by position: they are universally worth 3 points per player. This includes the final pass, or players who had shots saved or against the woodwork before being put away on the rebound. Deflected shots or passes that are given as own goals also count as assists, with nobody given credit as a goalscorer (more on which later). And players who are fouled, resulting in scored penalties or direct free kicks, also get assists.
Clean sheets and saves
Again, clean sheets can result in decent points tallies, and again, they vary by position. A goalkeeper or defender will earn 4 points for a clean sheet, while midfielders get 1 point. However, to qualify for this, they need to have played at least 60 minutes.
Interestingly (but uselessly, as it's so difficult to predict), if a team has a clean sheet during that player's time on the pitch, but concedes while that player is officially out of the game (having been subbed on or off), they still get the clean sheet bonus.
Goalkeepers also get 1 point for every 3 shots they save, and 5 points for each penalty they save. Other players don't share in any bonus for these events.
Points deductions
Yes, players can get negative points, too. Own goals, no matter how blameless, will see that player hit with a -2 points penalty. And speaking of penalties...missing a penalty also sees a player hit with -2 points. Yes, that is a bit harsh, but that's the game.
For every two goals a side concedes, the goalkeeper and defenders in action at the time receive -1 point.
Bookings and red cards also result in points deductions: yellows are worth -1 points, and reds are worth -3 points. That includes red cards resulting from two bookable offenses, i.e. the initial -1 is wiped out and just the -3 points for the red applies to the FPL score.
Bonus points
On top of that, the three best players in each game, as determined by the FPL's bonus points system, are awarded bonus points. The best player gets 3 points, second best gets 2 points, and third-best gets 1 point.
If there's a tie, it's done like in the Olympics: for instance, tying for first means two players get 3 points, and the next-best gets 1 point, with no bonus points silver medal awarded.
There is a very long list of how FPL calculates bonus points which includes many of the same criteria as the above, plus things like key passes, blocks, dribbles, making goalline clearances, scoring the winning goal, pass completion percentage, and so on. And again, there's deductions for things like errors leading to shots and goals, conceding fouls, getting caught offside, et cetera.
That honestly makes it basically impossible to keep track of for yourself...just take whatever points you get and be happy with them, in our book. (Very expert FPL players may disagree with this advice, but this isn't a guide for experts!)
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