FPL Gameweek 2 Guide: Transfers, Elite Picks, Players to Avoid & Why Cole Palmer Could Be Huge

Introduction

Gameweek 2 Deadline: Friday 28 August — 18:30 BST

Gameweek 1 is done.

Now comes one of the most dangerous moments of any FPL season.

The first transfer.

One great performance suddenly looks essential. One blank makes a player you've spent weeks choosing look like a mistake.

Hundreds of thousands of FPL managers have already reacted.

But before you join them, there's a more important question:

What did we actually learn from GW1?

In this GW2 update we're looking at:

• The biggest transfers ahead of the deadline
• Players we'd be careful buying
• What elite FPL managers started the season with
• Why patience matters after one Gameweek
• The case for Cole Palmer
• Our GW2 captaincy thinking
• How FPL Assistant can help you make the final call

And remember:

⏰ GW2 DEADLINE

Friday 28 August — 18:30 BST

Don't leave your transfers, captain or starting XI until the last minute.

🔥 The GW2 transfer market is already going crazy

GW1 has produced some enormous bandwagons.

According to the latest official FPL transfer data available ahead of the deadline, these were the five most transferred-in players:

And managers aren't just buying.

They're selling aggressively too.

João Pedro, Calafiori and Kayode have already risen £0.1m, while Watkins and Gyökeres are among those who have fallen.

There's clearly a huge amount of movement.

But movement doesn't necessarily mean good decisions.

Don't chase last week's points.

That's probably the most important advice we can give before GW2.

🧠 What are elite FPL managers doing?

This season we're going to pay much closer attention to managers who have demonstrated that they can perform consistently in FPL.

Because there's a big difference between:

"Who scored the most points last week?"

and:

"Who are consistently successful FPL managers backing?"

An analysis of the top 100 managers in the LiveFPL all-time Hall of Fame produced some fascinating ownership figures from their opening squads.

Among that elite group:

João Pedro — 98% owned

Bruno Fernandes — 97%

Dominic Calvert-Lewin — 94%

Bryan Mbeumo — 86%

Harry Maguire — 85%

Riccardo Calafiori — 78%

Dominik Szoboszlai — 78%

And the captaincy decision was even more striking.

72% captained Bruno Fernandes.

That's useful context after GW1.

If Bruno didn't deliver what you wanted, does one match suddenly invalidate the reasons some of FPL's most experienced managers selected him?

Of course not.

That's the difference between using new information and simply chasing points.

🏆 Elite managers vs everyone else

This is something we're particularly interested in this season.

Overall ownership tells you what millions of FPL managers are doing.

But elite ownership potentially tells us something different.

Imagine:

Elite ownership: 75%

Overall ownership: 20%

That's a huge difference.

We're calling this:

🔥 ELITE EDGE

Elite Edge = Elite Ownership − Overall Ownership

A player heavily backed by consistently successful managers but ignored by the wider game deserves attention.

It doesn't automatically make them a good pick.

But it tells us:

There's something here worth investigating.

And that's exactly the sort of information we want to bring deeper into FPL Assistant.

🚨 Players to be careful with before GW2

This doesn't necessarily mean SELL.

That's an important distinction.

Some players aren't attractive buys right now but could still be perfectly reasonable holds.

Pedro Porro

Porro is currently the most transferred-out player ahead of GW2.

Nearly 300,000 managers had already sold him in the latest official numbers.

Would we rush to buy him?

No.

Would we automatically spend a transfer removing him from an otherwise good squad?

Also no.

There is a huge difference between:

Not buying a player

and

Needing to sell a player.

FPL Assistant verdict: HOLD / DON'T BUY

⚠️ Viktor Gyökeres

More than 170,000 managers had already sold the Arsenal forward.

But this is exactly where GW1 can mess with your head.

One match is an incredibly small sample.

If you selected Gyökeres because you believed in Arsenal's attack, his role and the upcoming fixtures, ask yourself:

Has that actually changed?

If the answer is no, don't manufacture a problem because of one blank.

FPL Assistant verdict: WATCH

🔥 João Pedro

Now we're getting interesting.

João Pedro was already extraordinarily popular among successful managers.

98% of the elite Hall of Fame sample owned him for GW1.

Now another 280,000+ managers have been moving towards him for GW2.

That's very different from a random GW1 bandwagon.

There was already significant support before a ball was kicked.

FPL Assistant verdict: STRONG PICK

💎 Cole Palmer might be the most interesting player in FPL right now

Now we get to the player we're particularly interested in.

Cole Palmer — £9.5m

Palmer produced:

1 goal

1 assist

14 FPL points

against Fulham.

Those numbers are obviously impressive.

But that's not why we're excited.

Look underneath the points.

Palmer managed four shots inside the box against Fulham.

He didn't reach that number in a single Premier League match last season.

He also completed eight take-ons.

That's the most he's ever managed in a Premier League game.

Those aren't simply FPL points.

They're signs of involvement.

And that's much more interesting.

🔵 Has Xabi Alonso unlocked Palmer again?

It's only one match.

We need to emphasise that.

But the early signs from Chelsea's new system are extremely encouraging.

Palmer is operating in an attack containing players such as João Pedro and Morgan Rogers.

That matters.

Defences have multiple problems to solve.

And Palmer can exploit the spaces that creates.

He's capable of scoring.

He's an outstanding creator.

He's involved in set pieces.

And there's another enormous FPL advantage:

Penalties.

When you're paying £9.5m for a midfielder, you want as many routes to points as possible.

Palmer potentially offers:

Goals

Assists

Penalties

Set pieces

Bonus

Creative returns

And five points for every goal because he's classified as a midfielder.

That's a very attractive combination.

🚑 What about Palmer's fitness?

This was briefly a concern after he came off against Fulham.

But Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso subsequently said Palmer is:

"Absolutely fine."

That removes one of the biggest reasons to hesitate.

And there's another interesting factor this weekend.

Chelsea play Brighton.

Palmer has some rather good memories of that opposition.

The last time Brighton visited Stamford Bridge, Palmer scored four goals.

That doesn't mean he's going to do it again.

But combined with his GW1 numbers, fitness update and attacking role, it makes him one of the most interesting premium players heading into GW2.

FPL Assistant verdict: 🔥 STRONG BUY

👑 GW2 captaincy

There are several legitimate routes this week.

Erling Haaland

He's still Haaland.

Huge ceiling.

Massive ownership.

And arguably the safest player in FPL to captain across the season.

If you don't want to overthink things:

Haaland is absolutely fine.

Bruno Fernandes

Don't let one Gameweek erase the reasons Bruno was so heavily backed by elite managers.

97% elite ownership.

72% elite GW1 captaincy.

And now Manchester United host Ipswich.

This is precisely the sort of situation where patient managers can benefit if others start chasing last week's points.

Captaincy verdict: 🔥 VERY STRONG

Cole Palmer

This is the exciting route.

Brighton isn't necessarily the easiest fixture on paper.

But Palmer's GW1 performance was extremely encouraging.

Four box shots.

Eight take-ons.

Penalty responsibility.

Goal.

Assist.

And he's now confirmed fit.

If you're prepared to take a little more risk:

Palmer is a genuine GW2 captaincy option.

🎯 Our GW2 captaincy shortlist

SAFE: Erling Haaland

STRONG: Bruno Fernandes

AGGRESSIVE: Cole Palmer

Don't pick a differential captain simply because they're different.

Pick them because you genuinely believe their expected return justifies the risk.

❌ What NOT to do before GW2

Don't dismantle your team.

Seriously.

We have one Gameweek of information.

If you picked a player because they had:

Good fixtures.

Secure minutes.

Penalties.

Strong underlying numbers.

A good role.

...and none of those things have changed, one blank shouldn't suddenly make them a bad FPL asset.

Likewise, don't buy somebody purely because they scored last weekend.

Ask:

Has something genuinely changed?

Minutes?

Position?

Role?

Set pieces?

Penalty duties?

Injury?

Team structure?

Fixtures?

If the answer is yes, a transfer could be justified.

If the answer is simply:

"He scored 12 points last week."

Be careful.

🤖 FPL Assistant gets more useful from here

Pre-season FPL involves a lot of prediction.

Now we finally have actual Premier League data.

And every Gameweek gives us more.

Minutes.

Starts.

Goals.

Assists.

Fixtures.

Form.

Team structure.

Player roles.

As that information builds, FPL Assistant can compare your squad against what is actually happening rather than relying purely on pre-season assumptions.

And we're working towards going further.

🏆 Coming to FPL Assistant: Compare With The Elite

This is something we're seriously excited about.

Imagine opening FPL Assistant after the deadline and seeing:

YOUR TEAM vs THE ELITE

Elite Match: 74%

Then:

11/15 of your players match elite-manager selections

🔥 Ahead of the Elite

🚨 Major Elite player you're missing

⚠️ Player elite managers are abandoning

👑 Elite captaincy

🔄 Most popular elite transfers

And eventually:

ELITE EDGE

Showing the players that successful managers are backing much more heavily than the overall FPL population.

Instead of copying somebody else's team, you'll be able to understand:

Where does YOUR squad differ from the best?

That's much more useful.

⏰ Your final GW2 checklist

Before 18:30 BST today:

✓ Check injuries and team news

✓ Confirm your starting XI

✓ Check your bench order

✓ Make any necessary transfer

✓ Check your captain

✓ Check your vice-captain

✓ Don't take an unnecessary hit

✓ Don't chase GW1 points

✓ Run your squad through FPL Assistant

And then...

STOP TINKERING.

Sometimes the best FPL move is doing nothing.

🔥 FPL Assistant GW2 verdict

STRONG BUY — Cole Palmer

STRONG PICK — João Pedro

WATCH — Maxim De Cuyper

WATCH — Mamadou Sangaré

DON'T PANIC — Bruno Fernandes

DON'T PANIC — Erling Haaland

DON'T CHASE — random GW1 hauls

CAPTAIN — Haaland / Bruno

AGGRESSIVE CAPTAIN — Palmer

And our biggest advice heading into GW2?

Don't manage last week's team.

Manage the next five Gameweeks.

Gameweek 2 Deadline: Friday 28 August — 18:30 BST

Run your squad through FPL Assistant before the deadline and see what your team actually needs.