If you’re in a rush and need some last-minute Fantasy Premier League (FPL) advice, here’s a quick round-up of what you need to know about Gameweek 2.
WHEN’S THE FPL GAMEWEEK 2 DEADLINE?
All transfers and team selections need to be done by 18:30 BST on Friday 22 August.
GAMEWEEK 1 CONCLUSIONS
After a summer of tweaking and strategising, the opening weekend gave managers some valuable clues about how 2025/26 might go.
We saw a bunch of cheap starters, learnt about set-piece takers and got to check out defensive contribution (DefCon) points for the first time. 25 players received these two extra points – such as Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m), Rayan Ait-Nouri (£6.0m) and James Tarkowski (£5.5m).
Another one, midfielder Anton Stach (£5.0m), impressed new Pro Pundit Tom Hadley because he also created four chances and racked up four shots.
Meanwhile, fellow expert Lateriser is advising us to wait until Gameweek 3 before buying Erling Haaland (£14.0m). Zophar is certainly considering it, also sharing his belief that the promoted sides won’t be targeted as much this time – it could be Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers instead.
BUY, KEEP OR SELL – OR PLAYING A CHIP
A new feature landed this week, identifying some good and bad ideas from this week’s transfer trends.
For example, buying Tijani Reijnders (£5.6m) feels wise. FPL General made a late decision not to have the Dutchman for Gameweek 1, but has already corrected this.
Now it’s Antoine Semenyo‘s (£7.1m) to face Wolves, following his haul at Anfield.
Some may sell the suspended defender Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) because there are good, low-priced replacements, but he could be worth keeping for Aston Villa’s upcoming fixture run. Managers should give Florian Wirtz (£8.5m) a bit longer too; he’s in 72.2% of ‘The Great and the Good’ squads.
Those proceeding with a Gameweek 2 Wildcard or Free Hit have been provided with a few drafts.
IS GYOKERES ON PENALTIES?
In truth, not many weekend fixtures immediately stand out from a Fantasy perspective. There’s Arsenal at home to Leeds United, explaining why Bukayo Saka (£10.0m) is a unanimous Scout Squad pick and new signing Viktor Gyokeres (£9.0m) got named three out of four times.
Interestingly, we’re getting more and more clues that the Swedish international will be Arsenal’s penalty taker. The latest comes from Mikel Arteta’s interview with ESPN Brasil.
Gyokeres scored 27 out of 28 spot kicks during his two seasons at Sporting CP.
BEST FPL GAMEWEEK 2 CAPTAIN
Bukayo Saka is Captain Sensible’s recommended armband recipient, though Erling Haaland gets the nod from our Rate My Team (RMT) algorithm.
They come second to either other, with Mohamed Salah (£14.5m) sitting in third place both times.
Don’t forget to check our Captaincy Matrix, too, which lists the top projected scores of all 20 clubs.
TEAM REVEALS
SCOUT PICKS + DIFFERENTIALS
Our weekly selection – which is essentially a Free Hit in all but name – triples up on Arsenal assets and shows Bournemouth some love.
Playing up front while Alexander Isak (£10.4m) refuses to take part, Newcastle United midfielder Anthony Gordon (£7.5m) is in our trio of differential picks.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
We’ve predicted the starting XIs of all 20 Premier League teams.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck with FPL Gameweek 2!
