With the January free wildcard soon upon us, this week Sport360 will take a look at which players have earned the most bonus points so far in this season's Fantasy Premier League.
An interesting fact about this statistic piece is that the five highest bonus point scorers are midfielders. This needs to be considered when using your January wildcard as strengthening up in this area of your team could make all the difference.
Note- the highest scoring defender is Leighton Baines with 13 bonus points. Pretty big difference from the midfielders that are listed in the top five below.
5. Eden Hazard (Chelsea) 17 bonus points – 10.5m
The Belgian winger is one of the most gifted players in the Premier League and is always likely to score highly in fantasy football. He is expensive but worth every penny if you can afford him.
4. Christian Eriksen (Spurs) 18 bonus points – 8.2m
Eriksen has been a revelation at Spurs this season scoring some key goals. He has actually now scored the same amount of goals he did for the entirety of last season (seven). The Danish midfielder is on set-piece duty, so he will be constantly creating chances for the likes of Harry Kane and Roberto Soldado.
3. Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea) 18 bonus points – 9.7m
Arsenal will be kicking themselves for not resigning the Spaniard when they could. Fabregas has looked immense for the Blues. His chemistry with compatriot Diego Costa is a pleasure to watch for any football fan. The midfielder keeps Chelsea ticking and is always a creative option for Mourinho's men. He can't be ignored by any fantasy football gaffer.
2. Stewart Downing (West Ham United) 19 bonus points – 6.4m
Nobody expected this player to do as well as he has done this season. His performances haven't gone unnoticed with Downing receiving his first England call-up since May 2012. Most of this comes down to Sam Allardyce shifting the ex-Liverpool man to a central berth. West Ham have scored the most headed goals this season (12) and Downing has been involved in 10 goals altogether.
1. Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) 19 bonus points – 11.4m
Sanchez has been the standout player for the Gunners this season. He's not cheap but his performances have been outstanding for an attacking outlet that some thought would take a while to adapt. The Chilean had a spell of four games from October 18 where he got three bonus points in every match and scored an incredible 54 points in total. Wow.
How is the BPS score calculated?
If you didn't know how the bonus points are calculated, here is what they are based on (it's changed since last season):
Players score BPS points based on the following statistics:
| Action | BPS |
|---|---|
| Playing 1 to 60 minutes | 3 |
| Playing over 60 minutes | 6 |
| Goalkeepers and defenders scoring a goal | 12 |
| Midifielders scoring a goal | 18 |
| Forwards scoring a goal | 24 |
| Assists | 9 |
| Goalkeepers and defenders keeping a clean sheet | 12 |
| Saving a penalty | 15 |
| Save | 1 |
| Open play cross | 1 |
| Creating a big chance (a chance where the receiving player should score) | 3 |
| For every 3 clearances, blocks and interceptions (total) | 1 |
| For every 3 recoveries | 1 |
| Key pass | 1 |
| Successful tackle (net*) | 1 |
| Successful dribble | 1 |
| Scoring the goal that wins a match | 3 |
| 70 to 79% pass completion (at least 30 passes made) | 3 |
| 80 to 89% pass completion (at least 30 passes made) | 6 |
| 90%+ pass completion (at least 30 passes made) | 9 |
| Conceding a penalty | -3 |
| Missing a penalty | -6 |
| Yellow card | -3 |
| Red card | -9 |
| Own goal | -6 |
| Missing a big chance | -3 |
| Making an error which leads to a goal | -3 |
| Making an error which leads to an attempt at goal | -1 |
| Being tackled | -1 |
| Conceding a foul | -1 |
| Being caught offside | -1 |
| Shot off target | -1 |
The three best performing players in each match will receive additional bonus points. 3 points will be awarded to the highest scoring player, 2 to the second best and 1 to the third.
Dream Team: If you fancy using your wildcard…
Let us know your view on these selections by commenting below or by using #360Fans on Twitter.
Fancy pitting your wits against us? Join the newly established "Sport360 Fans'" league using code 47463-715903.