Tom Hadley – a one-time world number one in FPL – is one of our regular contributors who has returned for 2026/27.
He’ll again be providing data-driven articles regularly this season, chiefly around defensive contribution points (DefCon).
We’re just two weeks into the new season, so samples are small, but it’s worth a quick look into the data to see if there are any lessons to learn.
Here, I’ll be drawing on the data in Fantasy Football Scout’s all-new ‘DefCon’ page, which is just one small part of the excellent FPL Toolkit you can find here.
DEFCON LEADERS: THE DEFENDERS
Above: The four defenders who have hit DefCons in both Gameweeks so far
HULL CITY
Newly promoted sides often start the season with a bit of momentum, but I don’t think anyone would have predicted Hull to be quite as solid as they have been.
From an FPL perspective, it’s almost too good to be true. A defence full of £4.0m assets, keeping two clean sheets in two, and John Egan (£4.0m) hitting 17 DefCon actions per 90 minutes.
Now, it’s unlikely that this incredible value is sustainable, but even if the clean sheets start to fall by the wayside, which they will, DefCons seem likely to keep happening. The way that Hull play almost invites the opposition to test their extremely physical back three, and they seem more than happy just to clear it and make themselves difficult to break down.
Whilst Egan is the standout, all three centre-backs have both DefCon merit and attacking potential. Nobel Mendy (£4.0m) was just one contribution away from also having a 100% hit rate, and he would have almost definitely achieved it if it wasn’t for an early sub in Gameweek 2.
I expect Hull to drop off but we saw with Sunderland last season that sometimes these big physical teams just continue to tick along in the league, along with their assets in FPL. Remember that the Black Cats came up from the play-offs with low expectations in 2024/25, as Hull did last year, and the Tigers are mimicking the Mackems with some heavy spending in their first transfer market as a Premier League club. All the iffy xGC data from 2025/26 can be taken with a pinch of salt now that the squad has been overhauled.
Even if you don’t intend to play them that often, it’s brilliant to have that consistent 3-4 point floor on the bench as perfect back-up.
LEWIS HALL
The next name of interest is Lewis Hall (£5.1m). He isn’t your typical DefCon pick; that’s not the primary reason you buy him. He’s been taking set pieces, gets into great attacking positions, and has excellent baseline bonus.
But when you factor all the reasons you would buy him, and then add the chance of DefCons in there, too, it’s just about as good as you could ask for for £5.1m. The cherry on the cake is the excellent run of fixtures to come:
The DefCon hits aren’t even too much of a surprise, either. Hall was one of the best full-backs for defensive contributions last season:
Above: The leading full-backs for DefCon points last season, with Hall banking them in 25% of his starts
KRISTOFFER AJER
