Four FPL Game-Changers to Target Before Gameweek 2 Deadline

The clock is already ticking on Gameweek 2. With the Friday 18:30 BST deadline looming, there’s still time to rip up those early plans, chase form and fixtures, and steal a march on your mini-league rivals.

Here are four players who have planted an early marker and could shape the next stretch of your Fantasy Premier League season.

Cole Palmer (Chelsea) £9.5m

Back in the spotlight – and thriving under Alonso

Cole Palmer didn’t just return to Fantasy relevance at Craven Cottage. He grabbed it by the throat.

In Chelsea’s 3-2 win at Fulham on Monday, the midfielder delivered his first double-digit haul in over six months, powered by a goal, an assist and a performance that looked ominously like his 2023/24 peak.

The numbers tell the story. Four shots in the box – more than in any single match last season. Eight take-ons – the most he has ever recorded in a Premier League game. He wasn’t drifting on the periphery; he was driving the game.

Early signs suggest Xabi Alonso may be the manager to unlock that 244-point Fantasy ceiling again. Any lingering fears after Palmer’s Gameweek 1 substitution were quickly eased, too. Alonso confirmed on Wednesday that the England international is “absolutely fine”, ending the brief injury doubt that had seen him flagged in the game.

The fixture doesn’t hurt either. Brighton & Hove Albion visit Stamford Bridge in Gameweek 2, a side Palmer dismantled last time he faced them there with a stunning four-goal haul. Those memories, that form, and that role in Chelsea’s attack make him one of the standout premiums for this week.

Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) £9.5m

Minutes secured, doubts silenced

Many managers swerved Bukayo Saka in Gameweek 1. The logic was simple enough: just 30 minutes of pre-season, a delayed return after the FIFA World Cup, and whispers over his sharpness.

Mikel Arteta ignored all of that.

Saka went straight into Arsenal’s starting XI against Coventry City and did what he so often does – he scored. The Gunners cruised to a 3-0 win, and Saka banked 67 minutes of fitness-building action and an opening-day return.

With that, the main concern evaporated. Game-time looks secure again, and his Fantasy pedigree is unquestioned. He averaged 5.7 points per start last season – elite output for a £9.5m midfielder.

On paper, the next three fixtures might spook some managers. Aston Villa, Chelsea and Sunderland all carry Fixture Difficulty Ratings of at least three. But paper doesn’t tackle or track runners. Those three sides shipped a combined eight goals in Gameweek 1, exposing defensive cracks that a ruthless Arsenal attack can target.

Villa, up next for Arsenal, look especially fragile after a 4-0 defeat and the suspension of midfield shield Joao Gomes (£5.5m). That loss strips their spine just as they face one of the league’s most relentless wide threats. For managers waiting for a “better time” to buy Saka, that moment may already have gone.

Yoane Wissa (Newcastle) £6.0m

Fit, firing, and possibly first in line for penalties

Last season never really started for Yoane Wissa. An early injury derailed his campaign before it had a chance to build, leaving Fantasy managers with a question rather than an option.

This year, the answer is beginning to take shape.

Eddie Howe spent much of last season insisting we’d see a different Wissa in 2026/27, once fully fit and properly conditioned. Pre-season and the early competitive fixtures have backed him up. After scoring three times at the World Cup, Wissa hit a brace in a friendly against Valencia, then opened his Premier League account for the season with an assist in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool in Gameweek 1.

He impressed in that four-goal thriller, starting in a tweaked No 10 role before being pushed up front after the break. That positional flexibility could now become a Fantasy gift. With William Osula (£6.0m) a possible fitness concern for Gameweek 2, the central striker berth may fall to Wissa.

The schedule only strengthens his appeal. Across the next nine Gameweeks, not a single Newcastle fixture rates above three in the FDR:

• GW2: TOT (A) – 3
• GW3: BOU (H) – 3
• GW4: LEE (A) – 3
• GW5: HUL (H) – 2
• GW6: COV (A) – 2
• GW7: AVL (H) – 3
• GW8: CRY (A) – 3
• GW9: EVE (H) – 3
• GW10: FUL (A) – 3

There’s another layer. With Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes (£7.0m) gone, Newcastle’s penalty pecking order is up for debate. Wissa has converted 13 of his 15 career spot-kicks, a record that instantly puts him in the conversation. If he lands penalties on top of a starting role in an improving attack, £6.0m will look like a misprice.

Timothy Castagne (Fulham) £4.5m

Licence to attack – and fixtures to exploit

Fulham’s 3-2 defeat to Chelsea was chaotic, but it quietly underlined a key Fantasy trend: their full-backs are going to be busy.

Timothy Castagne emerged from that match with two assists, a statement return against a side many would file under “tricky” on the fixture list. For those who tracked pre-season, it didn’t come as a surprise.

Under new head coach Alvaro Arbeloa, Fulham’s full-backs were given room to surge forward throughout the summer. Castagne, Ryan Sessegnon (£4.5m) and Antonee Robinson (£4.5m) combined for six attacking returns across the club’s final five warm-up games, a clear signal of intent.

Castagne himself spelled it out in pre-season: the full-backs have “licence to kill”. They can both attack the box at the same time, as shown when Sessegnon scored from Castagne’s cross on a Wednesday friendly. The Belgian was clear – it will be fun this season.

The fixtures suggest it could be profitable too. Fulham face Sunderland away in Gameweek 2 and Crystal Palace at home in Gameweek 3, both reasonable opportunities for returns at both ends of the pitch. Then comes the golden stretch: in Gameweeks 6-8, they face all three promoted clubs back-to-back.

For £4.5m, you’re buying a defender with proven attacking output, a manager who encourages risk from wide areas, and a fixture run that could turn those surges into points.

Gameweek 2 arrives quickly. Palmer looks electric, Saka is back in full flow, Wissa is stepping into a bigger role, and Castagne has been unleashed. The question now is simple: will your squad be built to ride that wave, or to watch it from a distance?