Five Gameweek 2 standouts to target on waivers: two defenders, two midfielders and one goalkeeper.
Every player below carried an Up trend from Gameweek 2 on the TFF Players page, and none of them are rostered above 63% in a typical Top Four Fantasy league. This week's list is trimmed to the strongest claim at each position: two midfielders, two defenders and a single goalkeeper.
Forwards sit out this week. Every forward trending up after Gameweek 2 was already flagged here after Gameweek 1, so there's nothing fresh to add at the position until a new name breaks out.
Midfielders
Two-way midfield play is where this scoring model pays out most weeks. Tackles, interceptions and chances created build a repeatable floor on their own, and a goal or assist on top turns a solid week into a big one.
Anthony Elanga — Newcastle United, 50% owned, 8.5 pts
Elanga broke the deadlock away at Tottenham with a finish off the post in the 62nd minute, latching onto a Newcastle move down the right before Yoane Wissa doubled the lead soon after. It was his second goal in as many Premier League matches, making him the first Newcastle player to score in the club's opening two league games since Alan Shearer in 2003-04.
He's a guaranteed starter on the left of Newcastle's front three under new boss Matthias Jaissle, and the fixture list eases from here rather than toughens. Priority add in 10-12 team leagues, and a name worth chasing before ownership climbs much further.
- Why add: two goals in Newcastle's first two Premier League matches, backed by real pace and pressing volume.
- Role and minutes: first-choice left winger, 90 minutes in both games.
- Next three: vs Bournemouth, at Leeds, vs Hull.
- Risk: two goals from open play is a hot start rather than a guaranteed baseline, and a winger's returns can dry up fast if Newcastle's new-look attack takes time to gel.
Alex Scott — AFC Bournemouth, 63% owned, 14 pts
Scott finished off a slick counter-attack in first-half stoppage time at Vitality Stadium, latching onto Evanilson's lay-off to put Bournemouth ahead of Everton. They led for the rest of the match until James Tarkowski's stoppage-time header rescued a point for the visitors, but Scott's involvement went well beyond the goal, with a shot and a tackle added to his afternoon.
He's an every-week starter in Bournemouth's midfield and the shot-creation numbers back up the goal threat. At 63% owned he's already being claimed fast, so this is closer to a last call than an early alert in standard leagues.
- Why add: a match-opening goal, until a late equaliser, plus heavy attacking involvement against Everton.
- Role and minutes: regular starter in central midfield.
- Next three: at Newcastle, vs Brentford, vs Liverpool.
- Risk: Bournemouth conceded a stoppage-time leveller from a corner, and a schedule that toughens quickly could squeeze the space Scott needs to keep producing.
Defenders
Centre-backs who win the ball back and full-backs who join the attack both score well here. A clean sheet on its own isn't enough without volume behind it, especially from back lines still bedding in.
Lewis Hall — Newcastle United, 50% owned, 13 pts
Hall made the defensive play of the match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, sliding in to hack Dominic Solanke's goal-bound effort off the line in the closing stages to preserve Newcastle's 2-0 lead. He added four blocked shots on top of that clearance, the platform behind a first Premier League win of the season for new boss Matthias Jaissle.
He's an attacking full-back who gets forward when Newcastle have the ball and puts in defensive work when they don't, and that two-way profile has now produced 22.5 points across the first two gameweeks combined, the best two-gameweek total of any defender on this list. Priority add in 10-12 team leagues, and arguably the strongest claim among the defenders here.
- Why add: a goal-line clearance and four blocked shots protected a first win of the season at Tottenham.
- Role and minutes: first-choice left-back.
- Next three: vs Bournemouth, at Leeds, vs Hull.
- Risk: Newcastle's defence has needed heroics to protect leads so far, and a full-back reliant on blocks and clearances can be exposed if that underlying pressure doesn't ease.
James Hill — AFC Bournemouth, 25% owned, 17 pts
Hill produced the best defensive week of anyone in this pool, creating two big chances, winning five aerial duels and making three interceptions as Bournemouth led Everton for 89 minutes at Vitality Stadium. Tarkowski's stoppage-time header denied them the win, but it didn't take anything away from Hill's involvement at both ends.
That's a huge single-week haul for a centre-back, and the gap between a quiet Gameweek 1 and this outburst suggests a week like it won't be the weekly baseline. Still, he's first-choice in a back line that's shown it can create as well as defend, and that's worth a priority claim in standard leagues while ownership is still low.
- Why add: two big chances created, five aerial duels won and three interceptions in a game Bournemouth led for almost the full 90 minutes.
- Role and minutes: first-choice centre-back.
- Next three: at Newcastle, vs Brentford, vs Liverpool.
- Risk: that Gameweek 2 score is a major outlier next to a two-point Gameweek 1, and a defender this reliant on peaks and troughs needs a bigger sample before the volume is trustworthy.
Goalkeepers
Just one goalkeeper features this week, the strongest claim by some distance at a position where clean sheets and save volume both count.
Lukas Hornicek — Newcastle United, 0% owned, 11 pts
Hornicek made four saves as Newcastle beat Tottenham 2-0 away from home, a first Premier League win of the Matthias Jaissle era built on a defence that held firm even as Spurs racked up 17 shots. He arrived from Braga for a reported £25.7m this summer specifically to be Newcastle's long-term number one, ahead of the departing Nick Pope.
A £25m goalkeeper signed to be first-choice from day one, currently at 0% owned, is exactly the kind of market inefficiency this list exists to catch. Newcastle's next few fixtures are winnable, and the workload from a defence still finding its feet should keep his save numbers ticking over even in games they don't shut out.
- Why add: a completely unowned first-choice goalkeeper, signed for £25.7m to be Newcastle's long-term number one, who's already delivered a first win of the season.
- Role and minutes: undisputed starting goalkeeper.
- Next three: vs Bournemouth, at Leeds, vs Hull.
