Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 2: Key Players to Watch

With the Gameweek 2 deadline looming at 18:30 BST on Friday, Fantasy Premier League managers are already scrambling for early-season edges. The Scout has circled four names who look primed to punish anyone slow to react.

Cole Palmer (Chelsea) £9.5m

The numbers said it. The eye test screamed it.

Palmer was electric in Chelsea’s 3-2 win at Fulham on Monday, finally landing his first double-digit Fantasy haul in more than six months. The headline was a goal and an assist. The story ran deeper.

He racked up four shots in the box – more than in any single match last season – and completed eight take-ons, the highest total of his Premier League career. He didn’t just drift into the game; he grabbed it, twisted it, and dictated it.

Early signs under Xabi Alonso suggest Chelsea’s new head coach might be unlocking the 2023/24 version of Palmer again, the one who racked up a huge 244 Fantasy points. Any lingering concerns over his fitness were eased when Alonso confirmed on Wednesday that the England international is “absolutely fine” after being substituted in Gameweek 1, having been briefly flagged in the game.

Brighton & Hove Albion arrive at Stamford Bridge next, and Palmer will not need reminding what he did to them last time on this ground: four goals, a demolition job. Managers looking for an explosive midfield pick already have their candidate.

Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) £9.5m

Plenty of managers played it safe and went without Saka in Gameweek 1. On paper, it made sense. Only 30 minutes of pre-season, a late return after England duty at the FIFA World Cup, and whispers about limited minutes.

Mikel Arteta ignored all of that.

Saka went straight into the starting XI against Coventry City on Friday night and responded with an opening-day goal in a 3-0 win. Sixty-seven minutes in the legs, a clean strike on the scoresheet, and suddenly the fears over his game time look badly misplaced.

Last season he averaged 5.7 points per start. That’s elite, and it didn’t come with soft fixtures.

Arsenal’s next three matches – Aston Villa, Chelsea and Sunderland – all carry at least a three in the Fixture Difficulty Ratings. On first glance, that might cool enthusiasm. But those same three sides conceded eight goals between them in Gameweek 1. The “tough fixtures” tag starts to look flimsy when defences are leaking.

Villa, Arsenal’s immediate opponents, were thrashed 4-0 and will now be without suspended midfield protector Joao Gomes (£5.5m). It’s the kind of crack in the armour Saka has punished relentlessly in past seasons.

Yoane Wissa (Newcastle) £6.0m

This is the version of Wissa Newcastle thought they were getting.

An early injury ruined his 2025/26 campaign before it ever really started, leaving only flashes and frustration. Eddie Howe kept insisting a fully fit Wissa would be a different proposition in 2026/27. The evidence is starting to arrive.

He carried his World Cup form – three goals on the biggest stage – straight into club duty, hitting a brace in a pre-season friendly against Valencia. In Gameweek 1, he added an assist in a breathless 2-2 draw with Liverpool.

What stood out wasn’t just the return, but the role. Wissa operated in a slightly deeper No 10 position to begin with, linking play and driving at the back line, before being pushed up front in the second half. He looked dangerous in both zones.

With William Osula (£6.0m) a potential fitness doubt for Gameweek 2, that centre-forward berth could soon be Wissa’s to own. Even if he drops in behind, the schedule does him plenty of favours.

• Across the next nine Gameweeks, not one Newcastle fixture rates higher than 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 too. With Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimaraes (£7.0m) both gone, penalty duties at Newcastle are up for grabs. Wissa has converted 13 of his 15 career spot-kicks. If he steps up from 12 yards as well as from open play, £6.0m starts to look like a gift.

Timothy Castagne (Fulham) £4.5m

Fulham’s 3-2 defeat by Chelsea might have masked it, but Castagne has already planted a flag in the value defender conversation.

Two assists against one of the division’s most talented attacks is a strong start in any context. When you place it against what’s coming next, it becomes even more interesting.

Fulham’s run from now into autumn is quietly appealing. Sunderland away in Gameweek 2, Crystal Palace at home in Gameweek 3, and then a golden stretch in Gameweeks 6-8 when they face all three promoted clubs back-to-back.

The signs were there in pre-season. Under new head coach Alvaro Arbeloa, Fulham’s full-backs were given licence to attack. Castagne, Ryan Sessegnon (£4.5m) and Antonee Robinson (£4.5m) combined for six attacking returns in the final five warm-up games.

Castagne himself spelled out the brief before the campaign kicked off: “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.”

That is exactly what Fantasy managers want to hear from a £4.5m defender: timing, aggression, and a coach who encourages both full-backs to flood the box.

With Palmer and Saka offering proven premium firepower, Wissa threatening to explode at mid-price, and Castagne emerging as a budget enabler with real attacking bite, Gameweek 2 already feels like a fork in the road. Who blinks first – and who gets left chasing?