FPL GW2 Review: Four Hull Players Beat Haaland

Gameweek 2 is settled, bonus and all. Two rounds in, four Hull City players have more points than Haaland, the most-owned player in the game.

That is not a fluke worth a laugh and a scroll. It is a set of instructions for Friday, and one of them is a sell you should be planning rather than making.

The opening two rounds, ranked

Fernandes leads the game on 25 points from two full matches, with 2.84 expected goal involvement behind it. That is the rare opening where the eye test and the underlying numbers agree.

Haaland has 15 from the same 180 minutes at £15.5m. Nobody should be selling the best striker in the league on two rounds, but it is worth saying plainly: 70.4 per cent of managers own him and he has been outscored by a £4.0m centre back.

The Hull block is a sell you plan, not a sell you panic into

Ajayi has 20 points at £4.1m and 7.1 per cent ownership, which is 4.88 points per million, the best return per pound in the top 30 scorers. Tzolakis has 20 at £4.5m and 6.4 per cent. Egan has 17 at £4.0m and 3.9 per cent. Mendy has 16 at £4.0m and 5.3 per cent.

All four have outscored Haaland.

Here is the part the bandwagon will ignore. Hull host Aston Villa on Friday, then go to Chelsea in Gameweek 4 and to Newcastle in Gameweek 5. A promoted side that has banked cheap points at home is about to spend two of the next three rounds on the road at sides who will be favourites.

Verdict: keep what you already own for Gameweek 3, and pencil the exit in for Gameweek 4. Buying a third or fourth Hull defender this week is buying the run that has already happened.

Cherki is a minutes bet, not a returns bet

Cherki has 22 points from 108 minutes. Man City have played 180.

The price has moved to £7.7m and ownership is up to 23.6 per cent, so the bandwagon is boarding on the strength of a return per pound that assumes he plays. He has sat out 72 of his club's minutes so far. City host Coventry on Friday, which is exactly the sort of fixture a manager rotates into.

Verdict: if you own him, fine. If you are buying at 23.6 per cent ownership expecting a nailed asset, you are paying for minutes nobody has promised you.

Where we got it wrong

An honest review names the misses, so here are two.

Hinshelwood (£6.0m) at Brighton. On 26 August we published that his 1.41 expected goals in 63 minutes was the second-best chance quality of the opening round, at 2.0 per cent ownership, and that the fixture argued for waiting. He still has 63 minutes and 16 points, which means he did not play in Gameweek 2, and he now carries an official flag at 50 per cent to play. The call was right and the reason was wrong. We argued fixture. The thing that actually decided it was minutes.

Gabriel (£8.0m) over Calafiori (£5.6m). This morning we published that The Algorithm prefers the expensive Arsenal defender to the cheap one. Two rounds in, Calafiori has 20 points to Gabriel's 13, costs £2.4m less and is owned by 43.1 per cent against 26.9 per cent. We are behind on that call.

We are also holding it. As of 28 August The Algorithm has Gabriel ahead in Gameweek 3 by 4.83 to 3.70 and in Gameweek 4 by 5.19 to 3.86. Calafiori's two attacking returns came from 0.70 expected goal involvement, and that is the sort of start that does not repeat on demand.

What to actually do before Friday

Captain: settled. Haaland reads 6.99 for Gameweek 3, a full 1.57 clear of the next name. That is the widest armband gap of the season and the first week it has not been a coin toss. The reasoning, and why Gameweek 4 flips, is in our GW3 captain piece.

Buy: Saka. He has 20 points from 157 minutes at £9.5m, and The Algorithm has him second in the game for Gameweek 3 on 5.41, ahead of Szoboszlai on 5.16 and Fernandes on 5.13. Szoboszlai is 41.7 per cent owned and Fernandes 48.4 per cent. Saka is 10.4 per cent. A top-two option owned by one manager in ten is the clearest differential on the board.

Do not sell: Palmer. He has 20 points at £9.6m and 18.2 per cent ownership, and Chelsea go to Arsenal on Friday. He reads 3.10 for Gameweek 3, his worst week of the window, then 5.51 for Gameweek 4 when Chelsea host Hull, the single highest Gameweek 4 number in our top 35. João Pedro follows the same shape, 3.17 then 5.47, at 69.8 per cent ownership.

Selling either this week is selling the trough and skipping the spike. If your free transfer is burning a hole, spend it on the Hull exit or on Saka instead.

All projections are as of 28 August 2026 and you can check every one of them on the free predicted points table.

FAQ

Who has the most FPL points after two gameweeks? Fernandes, on 25 points from 180 minutes at £12.0m. Cherki is second on 22, from only 108 minutes.

Should I sell my cheap Hull defenders? Not for Gameweek 3, when they are at home to Aston Villa. Plan the move for Gameweek 4, when Hull travel to Chelsea and then to Newcastle.

Is Saka a good FPL differential right now? He is 10.4 per cent owned with 20 points already banked, and The Algorithm rates him the second-best option in the game for Gameweek 3. Low ownership plus a top-two projection is the definition of one.

Want a read on your own eleven before Friday's deadline? Rate My Team scores your squad free, no signup, and our Gameweek 2 preview has the fixture context behind these calls.