Round 2 is the live deadline for Sofascore Fantasy Premier League right now, with one round of the new season already in the books. Early-season form is already shaping the picture: Erling Haaland and Bruno Fernandes both picked up steady returns on opening weekend, while a handful of cheaper picks at some of the league’s less fashionable clubs quietly started brightly too.

On the fixture side, looking at the next five rounds, Arsenal still have arguably the kindest run in the league, with Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa rounding out a group of five clubs whose schedules all look considerably easier than average over the coming month and a half.

Here is our full 15-man squad for Round 2 — 2 goalkeepers, 5 defenders, 5 midfielders and 3 forwards — assembled for €98.7M, comfortably inside the €100M budget cap, and without a single player parked purely to gather dust on the bench.

Best fixture runs, Rounds 2-6

Club	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6
Arsenal	at Aston Villa	vs Chelsea (H)	at Sunderland	at Brighton	vs Leeds United (H)
Manchester City	at Crystal Palace	vs Coventry City (H)	at Man Utd	vs Sunderland (H)	at Liverpool
Manchester United	vs Ipswich Town (H)	at Everton	vs Man City (H)	at Fulham	vs Tottenham (H)
Liverpool	vs Nottm Forest (H)	at Ipswich	vs Fulham (H)	at Bournemouth	vs Man City (H)
Aston Villa	vs Arsenal (H)	at Hull City	vs Nottm Forest (H)	at Tottenham	vs Brentford (H)

Arsenal’s trip to Villa Park is the toughest fixture on this list, but the schedule opens up dramatically from Round 3 onward — a home date with Chelsea, then away days at Sunderland and Brighton that both look winnable on paper, before newly promoted Leeds arrive at the Emirates. Manchester City and Manchester United are not far behind, which is exactly why both feature heavily below.

GOALKEEPERS

David Raya — ARSENAL at ASTON VILLA

€6.5M, owned by 28.6%. Raya remains the most-selected goalkeeper in the game, and Arsenal’s run opens up considerably from Round 3 once this trip to Villa Park is out of the way.

Konstantinos Tzolakis — HULL CITY at COVENTRY CITY

€4.5M, owned by 3%. Rather than a backup who never plays, Tzolakis is Hull’s first-choice goalkeeper as they fight to establish themselves back in the top flight, and he already picked up a strong return on opening weekend. Hull face one of the toughest runs of fixtures in the division, which usually means a heavy workload between the posts — exactly the sort of profile that keeps racking up save points even without a clean sheet.

DEFENDERS

Ben White — ARSENAL at ASTON VILLA

€5M, owned by 2.9%. One of the best-value defenders in the game right now, White has started the season superbly and sits in a Gunners defence with one of the two best fixture runs in the league.

Joško Gvardiol — MANCHESTER CITY at CRYSTAL PALACE

€6.5M, owned by 15.3%. Gvardiol offers goal threat on top of his defensive numbers, and City’s own schedule holds up nicely across the next five rounds.

Marc Guéhi — MANCHESTER CITY at CRYSTAL PALACE

€7M, owned by 15.1%. Guéhi’s summer move has gone smoothly, and he arrives at a club with one of the friendlier runs of fixtures in the division to add to his own strong start.

Semi Ajayi — HULL CITY at COVENTRY CITY

€4.1M, owned by 2.9%. A recognised first-choice centre-back for Hull, Ajayi already has a big opening-weekend haul to his name, and a side fighting to stay up tends to spend long spells defending — the kind of volume that keeps producing defensive-contribution points regardless of the scoreline.

Nobel Mendy — HULL CITY at COVENTRY CITY

€4.6M, owned by 2.8%. The other half of a busy Hull back line, Mendy has been one of the form defenders in the whole division through the opening round, at a price that barely registers on the budget.

MIDFIELDERS

Martin Ødegaard — ARSENAL at ASTON VILLA

€7.5M, owned by 8.3%. Ødegaard has started the season in excellent form and captains a Gunners side with the best fixture run in the league over the coming month and a half.

Cody Gakpo — LIVERPOOL vs NOTTINGHAM FOREST

€7.5M, owned by 4.5%. One of the form players in the entire division after Round 1, Gakpo gets a home date with newly promoted Nottingham Forest this week — about as favourable a fixture as the round offers.

Dominik Szoboszlai — LIVERPOOL vs NOTTINGHAM FOREST

€8M, owned by 24%. Set-piece duties and a central role in Liverpool’s build-up make Szoboszlai a reliable source of returns, backed by a schedule that eases up nicely over the next month.

Rayan Cherki — MANCHESTER CITY at CRYSTAL PALACE

€8.5M, owned by 14.4%. Cherki has settled into City’s side quickly and was among the form picks of Round 1, at a club whose own fixtures hold up well over the coming weeks.

Marcelino Núñez — IPSWICH TOWN at MANCHESTER UNITED

€4M, owned by 1%. The cheapest midfielder in this squad by some distance, Núñez has nevertheless started the season brightly for newly promoted Ipswich, and remains a nailed-on starter even with a difficult trip to Old Trafford on the horizon this week.

FORWARDS

Erling Haaland — MANCHESTER CITY at CRYSTAL PALACE

€12M, owned by 74.9%. The most expensive and most-owned player in the game needs no introduction, and City’s fixture list remains one of the two or three kindest in the league.

Alexander Isak — LIVERPOOL vs NOTTINGHAM FOREST

€8M, owned by 9.6%. Isak already has goal involvements to his name since his move, and a home date with newly promoted Nottingham Forest is about as gentle a fixture as this round offers.

Emersonn — IPSWICH TOWN at MANCHESTER UNITED

€5M, owned by 1.2%. The final piece of the puzzle, and a genuine starter for Ipswich rather than a bench option — he was one of the form forwards in the whole division on opening weekend, even at a rock-bottom price.

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Combined value of this 15-man squad: €98.7M, comfortably inside the €100M budget cap. Fancy building your own team for Round 2? Head over to Sofascore Fantasy and get your squad in before the deadline.