FPL Gameweek 2 (2026/27): Team, Captain and Transfers
For FPL 2026/27 Gameweek 2 (deadline 24 Aug 2026, 10:00 UTC), the FPL Replay optimiser picked Haaland as captain and Palmer as vice, a 3-5-2, and one free transfer (Eze out, Jota in), projecting 75.9 points. The plan is an illustrative sample frozen at 24 Aug 2026, 08:00 UTC in the live-product format. It scored 98 net points after hits.
Cutoff 24 Aug 2026, 08:00 UTCIllustrative samplesha256:d41d8cd9…bc8fDownload snapshotSettledIllustrative sample
Key facts
- Captain
- Haaland (10.4 xP)
- Vice-captain
- Palmer
- Formation
- 3-5-2
- Transfers
- Eze → Jota
- Bank
- £0.0m
- Hits
- None
- Chip
- None
- Projected
- 75.9 xP
- Points
- 98
- Status
- Settled
Squad
| Pos | Player | Club | Fixture | FDR | £m | xP | Pts | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GKP | Raya | ARS | AVL (A) | 3 | 5.5 | 4.1 | 8 | — |
| DEF | Saliba | ARS | AVL (A) | 3 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 6 | — |
| DEF | Gvardiol | MCI | IPS (H) | 1 | 6.0 | 5.8 | 6 | — |
| DEF | Muñoz | CRY | WHU (H) | 2 | 5.0 | 4.3 | 2 | — |
| MID | Saka | ARS | AVL (A) | 3 | 10.0 | 6.2 | 6 | — |
| MID | Palmer | CHE | WOL (A) | 2 | 10.5 | 7.4 | 17 | Vice-captain |
| MID | Son | TOT | EVE (H) | 2 | 10.0 | 7.2 | 16 | — |
| MID | Jota | LIV | BRE (H) | 2 | 7.5 | 6.4 | 5 | — |
| MID | Rogers | AVL | ARS (H) | 4 | 5.0 | 3.8 | 2 | — |
| FWD | Haaland | MCI | IPS (H) | 1 | 15.1 | 10.4 | 34 | Captain |
| FWD | Isak | NEW | BOU (A) | 2 | 8.5 | 5.9 | 2 | — |
| Bench | ||||||||
| GKP | Valdimarsson | BRE | LIV (A) | 5 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0 | Sub #1 |
| FWD | Joao Pedro | BHA | MUN (H) | 3 | 5.5 | 4.5 | 7 | Sub #2 |
| DEF | Faes | LEI | FUL (A) | 3 | 4.0 | 3.1 | 8 | Sub #3 |
| DEF | Barco | BHA | MUN (H) | 3 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0 | Sub #4 |
Why this plan
GW2 demonstrated the payoff of keeping £0.5m in the bank from GW1. While the baseline heuristic rolled the transfer, the MILP solver spent the FT on Jota (H vs BRE), generating an immediate +4.1 xP model delta. Realised score hit 98 points as Haaland delivered 17 points (34 with armband), Palmer exploded for 17, and Son registered 16.
Transfers
Eze out (£7.0m) → Jota in (£7.5m). Direct route into Liverpool's Brentford home fixture. Jota out-expected Eze by +1.56 xP in single-week horizon and +3.2 xP over the 3-GW rolling window.
- Roll transfer vs Eze to Jota: The solver calculated an EV threshold of +1.4 xP needed to justify spending a transfer rather than rolling. Jota's projection cleared this hurdle at +1.56 xP immediate advantage.
- Captaincy consensus: Haaland vs Ipswich (H) yielded an overwhelming 10.45 xP projection with a 58% clean sheet concession probability for the opposition, rendering alternative captain arms mathematically irrational.
- Bench sacrifice: Faes's 8-point haul on the bench was unavoidable under rational pre-match models (£4.0m Leicester defender vs Fulham away had lower EV than Arsenal and City defensive starters).
What extra resources were worth
An extra £1.0m was worth +0.51 projected points.
An extra free transfer was worth +2.15 projected points.
Expected points from auto-subs: 1.48.
Agent arm attempted an aggressive -4 hit to bring in Minteh alongside Jota. The -4 hit was not recovered (+3 pts gained minus 4 hit = net -1 pt), reinforcing the MILP arm's conservative hit policy.
Three approaches compared
Template (hold transfers), optimiser (selected plan), and high-ceiling (more risk).
| Approach | Formation | Captain | Transfers | Projected | vs Template | Points | Note | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Template Rolling 1 Free Transfer into GW3 to accumulate 2 FTs for the international break buffer. | 3-5-2 | Haaland (Son) | 0 | 71.8 | — | 89 | Top 12% percentile | Detail |
Optimiser (selected) Single FT deployment: Eze to Jota using £0.5m liquidity; locks Haaland captaincy vs Ipswich (H). | 3-5-2 | Haaland (Palmer) | 1 | 75.9 | +4.1 | 98 | Top 1.8% percentile | Detail |
High-ceiling Double transfer with -4 hit: Eze + Rogers to Jota + Minteh, hunting high delta against the template. | 3-5-2 | Haaland (Palmer) | 2 (−4 hit) | 74.2 | +2.4 | 91 | Top 8% percentile | Detail |
Chip check
No chip is in the selected plan this week. Triple Captain: Hold. Best projected window: GW34 and GW37. Bench Boost: Do not play this week. Best projected window: GW34 and GW37. Free Hit: Do not play this week. Best projected window: GW29 and GW34. Wildcard: Optional this week. Best projected window: GW4 and GW6.
- Triple Captain: Hold. Best projected window: GW34 and GW37.
- Bench Boost: Do not play this week. Best projected window: GW34 and GW37.
- Free Hit: Do not play this week. Best projected window: GW29 and GW34.
- Wildcard: Optional this week. Best projected window: GW4 and GW6.
What-ifs for this gameweek
Triple Captain Early Burn vs Baseline Preservation
Deploying Triple Captain on Haaland against newly promoted Ipswich at the Etihad (projected 10.45 xP) produces higher certainty than waiting for spring Double Gameweeks where rotation and fixture congestion degrade per-minute output.
Control 75.9 xP · Alternative 86.3 xP · Delta +10.4 xP
How to verify
This Gameweek 2 plan was written to a JSON snapshot at 24 Aug 2026, 08:00 UTC and hashed with SHA-256 (sha256:d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e324a18b76e1a90c0ef49a9987812bc8f). Download the snapshot to inspect the frozen inputs. The freeze rule is described in Methods.
Who should I captain in Gameweek 2?
The selected plan captains Haaland (10.4 projected points) against IPS (H). Vice-captain is Palmer.
Should I use a chip in Gameweek 2?
No chip is in the selected plan this week. Triple Captain: Hold. Best projected window: GW34 and GW37. Bench Boost: Do not play this week. Best projected window: GW34 and GW37. Free Hit: Do not play this week. Best projected window: GW29 and GW34. Wildcard: Optional this week. Best projected window: GW4 and GW6.
Is Gameweek 2 a live freeze or a replay?
An illustrative sample of the live page format, not a live two-hour freeze.