Fantasy Premier League: Four Gameweek 2 Picks to Target Slow Starters
The deadline is set for 18:30 BST on Friday. One gameweek in, wildcards are twitching, mini-leagues are already getting loud, and there’s still time to join the season from scratch. Gameweek 2 offers a clean early swing – and four players stand out as potential early-season wrecking balls.
Cole Palmer (£9.5m, Chelsea): Alonso’s main man already
Cole Palmer didn’t just score well at Fulham. He took over the game.
In Chelsea’s 3-2 win on Monday, the midfielder produced his first double-digit Fantasy haul in more than six months, but the numbers behind it were even more encouraging. Four shots in the box – more than he managed in any single match last season. Eight take-ons – the most he has ever recorded in a Premier League fixture.
That is the profile of a player not just involved, but central.
Early signs suggest Xabi Alonso is building the attack around the England international, nudging him back towards the heights of 2023/24, when he racked up a huge 244 Fantasy points. Any lingering fitness fears were brushed aside too; Alonso confirmed on Wednesday that Palmer is “absolutely fine” after being substituted in Gameweek 1, ending his brief injury-flag drama.
Brighton & Hove Albion visit Stamford Bridge next, and Palmer has already brutalised this fixture once. His last home meeting with the Seagulls brought a scarcely believable four goals. Managers chasing an early rank boost will struggle to find a more explosive midfield option this week.
Bukayo Saka (£9.5m, Arsenal): Rested, ready, and straight back in business
Plenty of managers dodged Bukayo Saka in Gameweek 1. Limited pre-season minutes, a late return from the FIFA World Cup, and whispers about reduced pitch-time were enough to push him down draft lists.
Mikel Arteta ignored all of that.
Saka went straight into the starting XI against Coventry City on Friday night and responded with the inevitability that has made him a Fantasy staple: a goal in a 3-0 win and 67 minutes of sharp, purposeful football. The minutes matter. That run-out looked like a fitness top-up, not a player being eased in.
Last season he averaged 5.7 points per start. That’s premium territory.
The fixtures – Aston Villa, Chelsea, Sunderland – carry Fixture Difficulty Ratings of three or higher, but the early evidence from Gameweek 1 tells a different story. Those three sides shipped a combined eight goals on the opening weekend, and the cracks were obvious.
Villa, next up for Arsenal, were hammered 4-0 and lost their midfield shield Joao Gomes (£5.5m) to suspension. With that protection gone, Saka’s trademark runs into half-spaces and onto his left foot suddenly look even more dangerous. Those who waited a week may now have to pay up before the crowd piles in.
Yoane Wissa (£6.0m, Newcastle): Rebooted and ready to lead the line
Last season never really got started for Yoane Wissa. An early injury, disrupted rhythm, and a year that drifted rather than exploded.
Eddie Howe kept insisting 2026/27 would be different. So far, he’s been right.
Wissa arrived at Newcastle’s campaign on the back of three World Cup goals and a confidence-building pre-season, including a brace against Valencia. He carried that form straight into Gameweek 1, supplying an assist in a breathless 2-2 draw with Liverpool.
His role was intriguing. Wissa operated as a slightly deeper No 10 for long spells, then was pushed up front in the second half. With William Osula (£6.0m) a possible fitness doubt for Gameweek 2, that central striker spot could be his to claim.
And the schedule could hardly be kinder. Over the next nine matches, Newcastle do not face a single opponent rated above three in the FDR:
- GW2: Tottenham (A) – 3
- GW3: Bournemouth (H) – 3
- GW4: Leeds (A) – 3
- GW5: Hull (H) – 2
- GW6: Coventry (A) – 2
- GW7: Aston Villa (H) – 3
- GW8: Crystal Palace (A) – 3
- GW9: Everton (H) – 3
- GW10: Fulham (A) – 3
There is another layer of upside. Penalty duties at Newcastle are effectively up for grabs after the departures of Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes (£7.0m). Wissa has converted 13 of his 15 career spot-kicks. If he gets the nod from 12 yards, his £6.0m price starts to look like a mistake.
Timothy Castagne (£4.5m, Fulham): Full-back with licence to “kill”
If you want to fund the premiums, you need defenders who attack like wingers. Timothy Castagne is quietly auditioning for that role.
Fulham’s fixtures turn inviting soon. Between Gameweeks 6 and 8 they face all three promoted clubs back-to-back, a run that screams clean-sheet potential. Before that, Sunderland away in Gameweek 2 and Crystal Palace at home in Gameweek 3 both look manageable.
Castagne has already shown he can deliver against tougher opposition. In the 3-2 defeat to Chelsea on Monday, the Belgian full-back still emerged with two assists, underlining his value as an attacking outlet under new head coach Alvaro Arbeloa.
The warning signs – or opportunities – were there in pre-season. Fulham’s full-backs repeatedly joined attacks, and Castagne, Ryan Sessegnon (£4.5m) and Antonee Robinson (£4.5m) combined for six attacking returns across the final five warm-up matches.
Castagne himself spelled out the approach before the campaign kicked off: when the moment is right, the full-backs have “licence to kill” and can both attack the box at the same time. That aggressive brief is exactly what Fantasy managers look for in a £4.5m defender.
With fixtures softening and his role clearly defined, Castagne offers the kind of attacking upside that can reshape a squad structure in one transfer. In a season where early momentum matters, that licence could prove decisive.
