Fantasy Football Tips: FPL Gameweek 2 Guide

Q: How many chips do FPL managers get?

FPL managers get eight chips across a season, two each of Wildcard, Free Hit, Bench Boost and Triple Captain. The first set must be used before the Gameweek 19 deadline in early January, after which any unused chips from that set expire and a fresh set becomes available for the second half.

Q: When is the Gameweek deadline?

The Gameweek deadline falls 90 minutes before the first match of that gameweek kicks off. Once it passes, your squad locks completely, so any transfers, captaincy changes or chip plays made after that point simply won't count for the gameweek ahead. This is especially important to know when there are Friday night games.

By Mark Fordham

Aug 25th, 2026 10:26 AM EDT

Fact Checked By Oliver Lines

The Premier League season's back and so is the weekly ritual of staring at a squad screen at midnight convincing yourself Bench Boost is a masterstroke. Gameweek 1 threw up exactly the kind of chaos FPL managers should get used to fast this season. Hull City's shock 2-0 win over Manchester United was the story of the weekend, while Newcastle and Liverpool traded blows in a dramatic 2-2 draw that swung on a stoppage-time penalty.

That's the backdrop heading into Gameweek 2, which kicks off with Crystal Palace hosting Manchester City on Friday 28 August at 8pm, with the FPL deadline falling 90 minutes earlier at 6:30pm. Miss it, and you're stuck with last week's squad!

There's plenty else worth planning around across the weekend too, and not just at football betting sites. Coventry City host Hull City in the first meeting between two of the promoted sides. This could be an intriguing early measure of which newcomer is really punching above its weight after contrasting Gameweek 1 results. The round closes with champions Arsenal travelling to Aston Villa on Monday night, with two teams struggling to look in more different form in the first week.

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No player prices moved at all in the days between Gameweek 1 and Gameweek 2, so anyone banking a transfer for value reasons alone can afford to be patient. The early transfer market tells its own story regardless: Brighton's Maxim De Cuyper is being snapped up in bulk following a big Gameweek 1 return, while it's buy, buy, buy all the Arsenal players you can.

Three Players to Target This Gameweek

Marc Guehi, £6m - vs Crystal Palace, 28th August 8pm

We always knew that Manchester City would look a bit different this season under Enzo Maresca instead of Pep Guardiola, but we perhaps didn’t think it would mean we’d see Marc Guehi playing in holding midfield. But that’s exactly what happened in City’s opener against Bournemouth. He got his name on the scoresheet as they came from behind to win 2-1.

A trip to his old stomping ground at Selhurst Park seems like the game to ensure he’s in your team. They looked particularly toothless against Everton, and their starting striker is trying to get his contract ripped up. Stick with Guehi this week. Man City to keep a clean sheet is currently 13/8 with bet365 this week.

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Victor Munoz, £6.5m - vs Nottingham Forest, 29th August 12:30pm

Liverpool looked a much bigger threat once Viktor Munoz replaced Rio Ngumoha against Newcastle. He won the last-minute penalty and would have won another earlier on if the referee had correctly played advantage. The Spain international has shown enough now since arriving to suggest that he should be in Liverpool’s starting 11, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get the nod against Nottingham Forest.

Nico Williams isn’t the best defensively, and Munoz’s pace and trickery could cause him real problems this weekend. Liverpool will be hoping to get off the mark for the season, and Munoz could play a big part. You can get 6/4 with VirginBet at present on Munoz to score or assist.

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Martin Odegaard, £6.5m - vs Aston Villa, 31st August 8pm

Yes, we know we’re jumping on the bandwagon of a good Gameweek 1, which isn’t necessarily always a recipe for success, but this seems too good a matchup to pass up. To say that Aston Villa were disappointing in their opening defeat to Brighton would be an understatement. 4-0 down inside 31 minutes, and the team are scrambling for new bodies to replace the hundreds of millions’ worth who left earlier this summer.

Arsenal, on the other hand, looked serene in their 3-0 win over Coventry, and captain Martin Odegaard has sure looked back to his best early this season. Another Rolls Royce performance against a struggling Villa could well be on the cards. You can currently get 13/5 with 10bet on Martin Odegaard to have over 0.5 assists.

Captaincy Pick of the Week

Yoane Wissa, £6m - vs Tottenham, 29th August 5:30pm

Despite starting in an unfamiliar attacking midfielder role, Yoane Wissa proved to be a handful for Liverpool’s defence last weekend with an assist and four shots to his name. Given that Tottenham shipped three goals and looked pretty hopeless against Brentford in their opener, it could be a similar story on Saturday evening.

There’s also a reasonable chance that Wissa starts in his usual position up top, given that starting striker William Osula managed only 56 minutes against Liverpool before being taken off in a move that saw Wissa return to his familiar nine role. You can get 23/10 with BetMGM on Yoane Wissa to score anytime against Spurs.

Chip Strategy Watch

Nobody needs reminding that chips exist in FPL. What actually matters week-to-week is timing, and the pressure isn't really on this early in the season. Your first Wildcard, Free Hit, Bench Boost and Triple Captain all need using before the Gameweek 19 deadline in early January, so there's a good few months of breathing room before that clock starts to matter.

That said, plenty of sharp managers don't wait around. Gameweek 2 is realistically the last obvious early window for a Bench Boost built around a freshly assembled squad, since injuries and rotation only creep in the longer you leave it. There's no point holding a chip that rewards a full squad once half your bench is carrying a knock.

Triple Captain tends to get saved for a home fixture against one of the three promoted sides, and with Haaland facing all three of them before the January cutoff, there's no shortage of obvious weeks to pull the trigger.

Whatever you don't use by that Gameweek 19 deadline vanishes. There's no carrying a Wildcard over into February out of habit. Plan around that deadline rather than being surprised by it in December.

New Rules for 2026/27

A few changes have landed for this season, and you’ll want to be in the know about them rather than half-remembering from a headline.

Gameweek lockdown moved later: Scores used to become final an hour after the last match of a gameweek finished. Now that happens at 9am the following morning instead. It sounds like a small tweak but it gives Opta enough time to finalise bonus points and defensive contribution data, so don’t be hitting refresh on your FPL on the same night unless you want to be disappointed.

The Bonus Points System rebalanced: Full-backs and defensively minded attackers should see a bit more love from the algorithm this season. Be aware, though, Defensive Contributions themselves, the CBIT and CBIRT thresholds, haven't changed. That's a separate system and is staying exactly as it was.

A Price Change Predictor now exists officially: FPL will show you how close a player is to a price rise or fall based on transfer activity, rather than leaving you to guess from third-party sites like everyone's had to do for years.

There's a squad building assistant too: Answer a few quick questions about favourite club, how you like to split your budget, attack or defence, and it'll build you a starting squad. This is handy for anyone starting out, but seasoned managers will probably still want full control.

How to Play Fantasy Premier League

Starting from scratch isn't as difficult as it might seem once you know the shape of it. You get £100m to build a 15-player squad, split as two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and three forwards. The biggest thing to be aware of is that you can't have more than three players from any single club.

Each gameweek you pick a starting XI from that squad of 15, in a valid formation (4-4-2, 3-5-2 or 3-4-3) and name a captain whose points double for the week. Whoever you don't start sits on your bench as backup, only cashed in if you play the Bench Boost chip, or if one of your starters doesn’t play.

You get one free transfer every gameweek, and if you don't use it, it rolls over, up to a maximum of five banked at once. Anything beyond your free allowance costs four points each, so think carefully before making three panic transfers the week after a bad result.

Deadlines matter more than anything else in this game. Your squad locks 90 minutes before the first match of each gameweek kicks off, and once it's locked, that's it, no late changes, no exceptions for a shock injury news alert five minutes after the whistle. Build the habit of checking your team the night before rather than relying on a lunchtime scramble.

FPL Scoring System Explained

Every action on the pitch translates into points, and the value of that action often depends on which position your player plays. For instance, a defender scoring is going to be worth more points than a striker because of how less likely that is to happen. Here's the full breakdown.

Action	Points
Playing up to 60 minutes	1
Playing 60 minutes or more (excluding stoppage time)	2
Goal scored by a goalkeeper	10
Goal scored by a defender	6
Goal scored by a midfielder	5
Goal scored by a forward	4
Goal assist	3
Clean sheet by a goalkeeper or defender	4
Clean sheet by a midfielder	1
Every 3 shot saves by a goalkeeper	1
10 or more CBIT (defenders)	2
12 or more CBIRT (midfielders and forwards)	2
Penalty save	5
Penalty miss	-2
Bonus points for the best players in a match	1 to 3
Every 2 goals conceded by a goalkeeper or defender	-1
Yellow card	-1
Red card	-3
Own goal	-2

A goalkeeper scoring is worth more than any other position precisely because it happens so rarely. It's the game rewarding a real rarity rather than a typo. CBIT stands for clearances, blocked shots, interceptions and tackles. This is the defenders' route to a defensive contribution point. CBIRT adds recoveries into that mix for midfielders and forwards, since defensive work matters less to their usual job. Therefore, the bar sits slightly higher to compensate.

Your captain's points double automatically, and your vice-captain steps in and inherits that double if your actual captain doesn't play at all that gameweek. Bonus points come from an underlying algorithm weighing up everything a player did in a match. It is based on the player(s) who did best in a given game, no matter whether they scored a goal or not.

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Chips Explained

You get four chips, two of each across the season. Each one does something different to the others, so choose wisely when you spend them.

Wildcard: Make unlimited transfers for that gameweek at no points cost. This is a full squad rebuild you'll get without burning through your bank of free transfers one at a time.
Free Hit: Also unlimited transfers, but only for a single gameweek. Once that gameweek's done, your squad snaps straight back to whatever it looked like before you played the chip. This is perfect for a blank gameweek where half your usual squad has no fixture at all or if there's a double gameweek you want to take advantage of.
Bench Boost: Every point scored by your bench that gameweek counts toward your total on top of your starting 11. It is only worth playing when your whole 15 has a decent chance of getting minutes and returning points.
Triple Captain: Your captain's points triple instead of double. Save it for your most explosive player in his single best fixture of the season, not just a random Tuesday because it felt like time to use it.

Fantasy Football Tips FAQs

What is Defensive Contribution scoring?

Defensive Contributions award two points when a defender reaches 10 or more combined clearances, blocked shots, interceptions and tackles in a match, known as CBIT. Midfielders and forwards need 12 or more of the same actions plus recoveries, known as CBIRT, since defensive work is less central to their usual role.

How many chips do FPL managers get?

When is the Gameweek deadline?

About the Author

Mark Fordham

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Mark spent over a decade as a sports reporter and editor with Goal.com and Bleacher Report. He is now a Content Manager at Bookies.com covering all manner of sports from the Premier League and cricket to the NBA and NFL. Mark also has years of experience working in the online casino industry and knows how to rate a good one over a bad one.