Bonus points were first introduced when FPL launched way back in 2002. The original intention was to award a player up to 3 additional points for "being judged to have made an excellent performance in a game". These were allocated by members of the press association attending the game. Since then, they have been refined several times and are now based on around 30 statistics, resulting in an overall Bonus Points System (BPS) score per player. The players with the highest BPS receive up to 3 additional bonus points.
However, this season in particular, people have been especially vocal in questioning how they are calculated. For 2017/18 Mohamed Salah is the games current top scorer with 235 points, but only 23 of these have come from bonus points. His Liverpool counterpart Roberto Firmino has only 154 points, but trumps Salah on bonus with 26 bonus points. On social media, people have questioned how Jack Butland received 3 bonus points when scoring an own goal for Stoke's 1-1 draw versus Leicester in gameweek 28, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's 3 bonus points for his performance in Arsenal's 2-1 loss versus Brighton in gameweek 29.
The goal of this article is to demystify how bonus points are allocated. In part 1 we will review the BPS system and revisit some of the more controversial cases people have highlighted. In part 2 we will propose a modified BPS system which aims to improve it.
Bonus points were originally completely subjective, but this changed in the 2005/6 season with the introduction of the Actim index, which was a rating system based on player statistics. This was then renamed to the EA Sports performance index, but both of these were essentially 'black-boxes', with no details of their inner workings.
For the 2013/14 season the Premier League signed a contract with Opta Sports, and introduced essentially the bonus points system we know today.
In 2014/15 a more granular scale was introduced, awarding, for example, 1 BPS per 1 save, rather than 1 BPS per 3 saves. This meant other BPS statistics, such as goals, were modified to carry 3 times more weight than before.
In 2015/16 a further refinement was made, so that a save carries 2 BPS rather than 1 BPS, and every 2 clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBI) results in 1 BPS, rather than the previous requirement of 3 CBI. These changes increased the importance of defensive actions.
The current BPS scoring system is shown in the image. The highest BPS score (24) is allocated to a forward scoring a goal, whereas only 18 and 12 go to a midfielder or defender scoring a goal respectively. This is because typically there are more ways for a defender or midfielder to score BPS.
Of particular note is that there are 12 statistics which result in negative BPS. Attacking players, for example, loose 3 BPS for missing a 'big chance' (which Opta define as a clear goal scoring opportunity), and shots off target.
We now turn to some of the more talked about cases of the 2017/18 season (many thanks to our twitter followers for helping with these). We will also give the BBC man of the match for comparison.
This was noticeable as Groß was on the losing side in a 1-0 defeat. The top BPS scorers were Groß (33), Valencia (32) and Lindelöf (30). The BBC man of the match was Groß.
Groß made significant defensive and attacking contributions, including being rewarded with +10 BPS for successful net tackles, while creating a big chance (+3) and making 3 key passes (+3).
Match stats can be found here.
This was noticeable as Sterling did not receive any bonus points despite scoring 2 goals. The top BPS scorers were De Bruyne (48), Gündogan (41) and Sané (39), while Sterling scored 37. The BBC man of the match was De Bruyne.
Sterling scored +36 BPS from 2 goals, but was penalized for missing big chances (-6), being tackled (-2), caught offside (-2) and shots off target (-3). His full breakdown was
Match stats can be found here.
This was noticeable as Salah scored 2 goals, yet only received 2 bonus points, whereas Vardy scored 1 goal and received 3 bonus points. The top BPS scorers were Vardy (31), Salah (27) and Mané (25). The BBC man of the match was Salah.
This was an exceptional game in terms of negative actions. Salah scored +36 BPS from goals, but was penalized for missing big chances (-9), being tackled (-7), conceding fouls (-1), caught offside (-2) and shots off target (-3). His full breakdown was
In comparison, Vardy was only penalized for being tackled (-1) and caught offside (-2). Match stats can be found here.
This was noticeable as Trippier did not score or assist yet received 3 bonus points. The top BPS scorers were Trippier (35), Llorente (31) and Vertonghen (30). The BBC man of the match was Eriksen, who scored 28 BPS.
Trippier received +6 BPS for successful tackles. His full breakdown was
Match stats can be found here.
This was noticeable as Duffy scored a bonus point even though Brighton lost 2-0. The top BPS scorers were Evans (42), Dawson (30), Foster (23), Hegazi (23) and Duffy (23). The BBC man of the match was Krychowiak, who only scored 7 BPS.
Although Duffy conceded 2 goals, he was rewarded for many defensive actions. It is important to note goalkeepers and defenders aren't penalized for conceding goals, only for individual errors resulting in a shot (-1) or goal (-3). Since Duffy was not responsible for either goal, he was not penalized accordingly. His full breakdown was
Match stats can be found here.
This was noticeable as Butland scored an own goal, loosing 6 BPS for this, yet received 3 bonus points. The top BPS scorers were Butland (23), Shaqiri (20) and Albrighton (19). The BBC man of the match was Albrighton.
This was a low scoring game in terms of BPS. Butland received most of his BPS via saves (+18). His full breakdown was
Note that Butland was not penalized for an error resulting in a goal (-3). The next highest scorer, Shaqiri, scored a goal (+18) but was penalized for being tackled (-4), conceding fouls (-2) and shots off target (-1). Match stats can be found here.
This was noticeable as Salah scored a goal and assisted once, but did not receive any bonus points. The top BPS scorers were Can (44), Firminio (41), Oxlade-Chamberlain (33), while Salah scored 30. The BBC man of the match was Salah.
Although Salah assisted (+9) he was penalized for being tackled (-4), missing a big chance (-3) and a shot off target (-1). His full breakdown was
Match stats can be found here.
This was noticeable as Aubameyang scored an easy tap in and was not very involved in the game, having only 29 touches, but received 3 bonus points. The top BPS scorers were Aubameyang (33), Murray (29), Duffy (23) and Groß (23). The BBC man of the match was Jose Izquierdo, who only scored 7 BPS.
Aubameyang benefitted from not having many negative BPS actions but made a few key positive ones. His full breakdown was
In comparison, Murray conceded 5 fouls (-5) and was caught offside (-1). Match stats can be found here.
This concludes our first look at bonus points. Some of the questions raised include
In part 2 we will take a closer look at the numbers and propose an improved system.
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