Can Rice, Caicedo, Gravenberch + Xhaka maintain their FPL form?

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In this inaugural Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Defensive Contribution (DefCon) season, only two of the top 12 scorers after Gameweek 10 are traditional attackers.

Beyond that dozen, 18 of the top 25 players we can describe as “defensive” are included Declan Rice (£6.8m), Moises Caicedo (£6.0m), Ryan Gravenberch (£5.6m), Granit Xhaka (£5.1m) and Joao Palhinha (£5.5m). These are five of the leading nine midfielders.

Such counts are not simply based on DefCon points; You also get attack returns.

Let’s try to use the data from our members’ area to find out whether this trend is sustainable or represents an early season quirk.

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THE ADD OF DEFCON

DefCon was introduced to attract more players and enable more varied FPL squads. DefCon is a small factor in these five doing well, although surprisingly Gravenberech only reached the threshold once.

More DefCon points were awarded across the Premier League than in Gameweeks 1 to 10 last season. However, this primarily benefits the defenders. Instead of 153 midfielders, there were now only 125, as we looked at two weeks ago.

	DEFCON POINTS	DUTIES	BLOCKS	INTERCEPTION	RESTORATIONS	TACKS	DEFCON ACTIONS
2025/26	654	5,184	652	1,546	7,419	3,342	15,200
2024/25	618	4,000	744	1,704	8,048	3,624	14,982

This can be explained by a tactical trend in 2025/26, where it is currently fashionable to cross and throw the ball more often. This means fewer actions in midfield and more freedom for the central defender – for example Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.6m) performs far better at DefCon than last season.

So far the leading midfielders in this area are Caicedo, Xhaka, Elliot Anderson (£5.3m), Josh Cullen (£5.0m) and Mats Wieffer (£4.9m), each of which collected 10 points.

However, if you look at the best midfielders of the 2024/25 season, the existence of DefCon would have Caicedo, Anderson, Joao Gomes (£5.3m) and Idrissa Gueye (£5.4m), although not enough to rank them among the leading men:

So a defensive midfielder’s great start has to be about more than that.

SUPPORT POTENTIAL

The need for an engine room action is replaced by more set pieces. Rice’s Arsenal grab the headlines with their ten goals from such situations, but it’s not just the Gunners. After being a neglected area for a long time, it seems like all teams have hired specialist coaches to capitalize on these moments of control.

Although there were more corners (1,126 vs 977) and more set-piece attempts (759 vs 751) last season, they are actually better taken. It’s about quality over quantity.

	2025/26	2024/25	2023/24
Corner goals	49	34	29
Free kick goals	14	19	22
Throw-in goals	10	5	2
Standard goals	73	58	53
FULL CORNERS	977	1,126	1,079
Corner attempts	400	478	478
Free kick attempts	213	229	239
Throw-in attempts	138	52	37
Standard tests	751	759	754

Improved processes led to 73 goals instead of 58, with throw-ins in particular beginning to shine. Goals scored have doubled compared to the first 10 gameweeks of both campaigns. 138 throw-in attempts is a big increase from 52, led by Brentford’s 22.

So who takes these better set pieces?

None of our five focused names really nail the throws: Antoine Semenyo (£8.1m) is the best midfielder for this one.

Nevertheless, Rice and Xhaka take corners and free kicks. Each of the England international’s four FPL assists came from one, with both goals coming in open play.

Sunderland’s star summer signing assisted with a cross and a free-kick, ranking first in big chances created (five) and falling just short of Rice’s 17 chances created (tenth).

	RICE	CAICEDO	GRAVENBERCH	XHAKA	STRAW
OPPORTUNITIES CREATED	17	5	7	16	2
GREAT OPPORTUNITIES CREATED	4	1	2	5	1
TOUCHED IN LAST THIRD	108	77	90	74	36
CROSSES	52	1	1	29	1
FULL SUPPORTS	4	1	2	3	1
SHAH	1.98	0.68	0.56	1.16	0.30

Of course, Rice probably shouldn’t be considered a defensive midfielder now Martin Zubimendi (£5.5m) has arrived.

GOAL HAZARD

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