Clean sheet
A clean sheet is awarded when a team concedes no goals in a match and the player has been on the pitch for at least 60 minutes. Goalkeepers and defenders score 4 points for it, midfielders score 1 and forwards score nothing.
The 60 minute rule
The 60 minutes are the hard part of the rule. A defender taken off after 55 minutes gets nothing for the clean sheet even if his team holds out to the final whistle, and a substitute who comes on for the last half hour gets nothing either.
The minutes also have to be goal free while he is on the pitch, so a defender withdrawn on the hour of a goalless match keeps his 4 points even if the opposition scores after he has gone.
Goals conceded cut the other way
Goalkeepers and defenders lose 1 point for every two goals their team concedes, so a 2-0 defeat costs a point and a 4-0 defeat costs two. Midfielders and forwards are not docked for goals conceded, which is why a midfielder in a leaky team is a much safer hold than his defenders.
That asymmetry is what makes defensive picks a fixture question. Four points and a good chance of bonus is a strong week for a cheap defender, and the same player against a strong attack is a likely 1.
Example
Your goalkeeper and two defenders all play 90 minutes of a 1-0 win. Each takes 2 appearance points and 4 for the clean sheet, so 6 points apiece. Your midfielder in the same team adds 1, and your forward there gets nothing extra.
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