Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 2: Top Four Player Picks

The deadline is set for 18:30 BST on Friday. One gameweek down, chips untouched, ranks bunched together. This is where early bold calls can rip open a mini-league.

Here are four players with the form, fixtures and roles to do exactly that in Gameweek 2 of the 2026/27 Fantasy Premier League season.

Cole Palmer (Chelsea) £9.5m

A new manager, the same swagger. Maybe even more.

Cole Palmer walked out of Craven Cottage on Monday with a goal, an assist and his first double-digit Fantasy haul in over half a year. The numbers behind it were even louder than the scoreline in Chelsea’s 3-2 win at Fulham.

• Four shots in the box – more than in any single league match last season.
• Eight successful take-ons – the most he has ever managed in a Premier League game.

This wasn’t a quiet return to form. It was a statement that Xabi Alonso might be about to drag the England international back to his devastating 2023/24 levels, when Palmer racked up 244 Fantasy points and became a must-own.

There was a brief scare when he was substituted in Gameweek 1 and flagged in the game, but Alonso shut that down on Wednesday, confirming Palmer is “absolutely fine”.

Now he faces Brighton & Hove Albion at Stamford Bridge, a fixture that will stir some memories. Palmer scored four times the last time the Seagulls visited west London. Managers looking for an explosive captaincy punt or a premium midfielder with sky-high ceiling don’t have to look far.

Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) £9.5m

Many managers played it safe. They saw just 30 minutes of pre-season for Bukayo Saka after his World Cup exertions and decided to wait.

Mikel Arteta didn’t.

Saka went straight back into Arsenal’s starting XI against Coventry City and responded in the most Saka way possible: a goal in a 3-0 win, 67 minutes in the tank, and a reminder that leaving him out of your squad rarely feels comfortable for long.

Last season he averaged 5.7 points per start. That kind of reliability is gold dust over the long haul.

Yes, the next three fixtures – Aston Villa, Chelsea and Sunderland – carry Fixture Difficulty Ratings of at least three. On paper, that looks awkward. On the pitch in Gameweek 1, those same three sides shipped eight goals between them.

Villa look especially exposed. They were hammered 4-0 and have lost their midfield shield Joao Gomes (£5.5m) to suspension. That opens up space in exactly the zones where Saka thrives: cutting inside, driving at a backline suddenly missing its protection.

If doubts over his minutes kept you away in Gameweek 1, that excuse has gone. Saka is fit, firing and walking into fragile defences.

Yoane Wissa (Newcastle) £6.0m

Last season, Yoane Wissa was a what-if. An early injury, stop-start rhythm, and a sense that Eddie Howe had a weapon he couldn’t properly use.

Howe insisted an injury-free Wissa in 2026/27 would be a different proposition. We’re already seeing why.

The DR Congo international carried his World Cup form – three goals on the biggest stage – into pre-season, where he hit a brace against Valencia. He then opened the league campaign with an assist in Newcastle’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool, shining in a chaotic, four-goal contest.

Wissa operated in a tweaked No 10 role to start with, then was pushed into the striker’s slot in the second half. That positional flexibility might now work in his favour. With William Osula (£6.0m) a possible fitness concern for Gameweek 2, that centre-forward berth is there to be claimed.

And just look at the schedule. Across their next nine matches, Newcastle do not face a single opponent with an FDR rating above three:

• 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

The upside doesn’t end there. With Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes (£7.0m) gone, penalty duties at Newcastle are up for grabs. Wissa has converted 13 of his 15 career spot-kicks. If he gets the nod from 12 yards on top of open-play threat and a soft run of fixtures, £6.0m starts to look like a serious bargain.

Timothy Castagne (Fulham) £4.5m

Fulham may have lost to Chelsea, but Timothy Castagne still walked away with something tangible for Fantasy managers: two assists from full-back and a clear sign of what Alvaro Arbeloa wants from his wide defenders.

The Belgian was already flashing this upside in pre-season. Between them, Castagne, Ryan Sessegnon (£4.5m) and Antonee Robinson (£4.5m) produced six attacking returns in Fulham’s final five warm-up games. That wasn’t a fluke. It was a blueprint.

Castagne spelled it out himself before the campaign began: the full-backs have licence to go, and go together.

“Obviously you need to know your responsibilities – we cannot go every time, you need to pick your moments – but when we go, we have licence to kill. We can go full, and both full-backs at the same time. That’s why Sess scored Wednesday from my cross, because we can both go in the box at the same time. It will be fun this season.”

For £4.5m, that’s exactly what Fantasy managers want to hear.

The fixtures help, too. Fulham face Sunderland away in Gameweek 2, then Crystal Palace at home in Gameweek 3 – both appealing opportunities for returns at both ends of the pitch. From Gameweeks 6 to 8, the Cottagers then meet all three promoted clubs in succession, a run that could turn a budget defender into a regular starter in Fantasy squads.

Castagne is not just a cheap enabler. Under Arbeloa, he looks like a defender with genuine attacking licence and a fixture list about to open up. The only question is whether managers move early, or end up paying more – in budget or in rank – to catch up later in the season.