Looking for the best FPL Gameweek 2 transfer tips for the 2026/27 season? We have analysed the standout Gameweek 1 statistics, the most popular early transfers and two Arsenal midfielders who could be on managers’ shopping lists.
Maxim De Cuyper leads both the underlying numbers and the transfer activity, while João Pedro is dominating the early forward moves. We also compare Martin Ødegaard and Christos Tzolis before naming our preferred Arsenal pick.
Maxim De Cuyper recorded an expected FPL points score of 13.9 in Gameweek 1, the highest total in our Custom Stats table.
The Brighton defender was joint-top for big chances with two and attempted three shots inside the box. Those numbers underline his attacking potential and show that his opening-weekend return was supported by strong underlying statistics.
If you're tempted to bring the defender in you can read more in our article Maxim De Cuyper FPL: Should Managers Buy Him?
Morgan Rogers impressed on his Chelsea debut. No player attempted more assists than the England midfielder’s five, while he also registered three shots.
However, only one of those attempts was classified as a big chance, leaving Rogers with a more modest expected FPL points score of 6.8.
Cody Gakpo led all players for shots with six and also attempted three assists. However, he recorded no big-chance involvement and finished with an expected FPL points score of 7.2.
Erling Haaland was the most-popular Gameweek 1 captain but blanked on the opening weekend. He attempted four shots inside the box, although only one was a big chance, resulting in an expected FPL points score of 4.7.
Bruno Fernandes also struggled against Hull. He failed to register a shot inside the box and created three chances, producing an expected FPL points score of only 3.2.
Cole Palmer combined goal and assist potential against Fulham. The 24-year-old attempted four shots inside the box, including one big chance, and one of his three attempted assists was classified as a big chance created.
Palmer recorded an expected FPL points score of 9.5. Only Michael Kayode (9.7), Marc Guéhi (10.7), Jack Hinshelwood (12.5) and De Cuyper (13.9) ranked higher.
The image above from our Player Heatmaps feature shows the shoys Palmer took during the match.
The expected FPL points (xFPL) model estimates how many points a player’s performance was likely to produce. The calculation uses underlying data including expected goals, expected assists, expected clean sheets, appearance points and projected bonus points.
It is best used to assess the quality of a player’s performance rather than simply looking at his final FPL score.
De Cuyper is the most-bought player ahead of Gameweek 2. Almost 250,000 managers had transferred him in at the time of writing, according to our Transfer Analytics tool.
Mamadou Sangaré is another early bandwagon following his haul against Spurs. The budget midfielder had already attracted almost 200,000 new owners.
Riccardo Calafiori is also receiving attention after continuing his Community Shield form with an assist and clean sheet. He is one of three Arsenal players among the eight most-bought players, alongside Ødegaard and Tzolis.
At the other end of the market, Pedro Porro, Ezri Konsa, Viktor Gyökeres and Ollie Watkins are among the five most-sold players after all four failed to feature in Gameweek 1. Fernandes completes the top five following his blank against Hull.
Watkins to João Pedro accounts for 8.3% of the leading forward transfer combinations, while Gyökeres to João Pedro represents a further 6.7%.
Kai Havertz, Yoane Wissa and Oli McBurnie are the other popular forward targets. Alexander Isak to Haaland is another notable move after Dominik Szoboszlai took Liverpool’s penalty against Newcastle, raising fresh questions about Isak’s spot-kick duties.
Sangaré appears in seven of the top 10 midfielder transfer combinations, making him the clear early budget favourite. Liverpool pair Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo are the other leading midfield targets.
Pascal Groß, Enzo Le Fée, Florian Wirtz and Morgan Gibbs-White are among the midfielders being sold to fund those moves.
Eight of the top 10 defender transfer combinations feature De Cuyper. Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, Neco Williams, Jan Paul van Hecke and Cristhian Mosquera are among the defenders making way.
De Cuyper’s attacking numbers make the interest understandable, although Chelsea away is not the easiest immediate fixture. Managers should view him as a medium-term target rather than judging the move solely on Gameweek 2.
Ødegaard and Tzolis both delivered attacking returns for their owners on Friday night with the Norwegian international looking back to his best after a disrupted campaign last year.
As the above image from our Player Heatmaps feature shows, the pair posted similar stats with Tzolis slightly edging it for goal threat with three shots in the box compared to just one for Ødegaard.
They attempted the same number of assists (three) but Ødegaard edged it slightly for 'Expected Assists' (xA) (0.29 vs 0.18).
Based on a limited sample size of one game, it is difficult to clearly identify the better pick from the Arsenal midfield but both look like promising options that are worth monitoring next Gameweek.
It also remains to be seen who Arsenal sign as competition for Tzolis on the left wing with Gabriel Martinelli likely on his way out of Arsenal.
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