Which FPL Gameweeks could be affected by European rotation?

The UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League are all recommencing this week following a three-month break.

As we have learned the hard way in the past, midweek European involvement can have a knock-on effect for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers regarding domestic squad rotation. The two main concerns are:

• Quick turnaround times (eg sub-72 hours) between two fixtures
• Accumulated fatigue after a sustained period of fixture congestion

Seven Premier League sides are still involved in European action: Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Arsenal and West Ham United.

With that in mind, we thought it was worth a look at the fixture schedule for those teams up until the next international break in March.

OVERVIEW

Above graphic courtesy of Legomane

MANCHESTER CITY

• Sunday 12 February: Gameweek 23 – Aston Villa (h)
• Wednesday 15 February: Gameweek 23 – Arsenal (a)
• Saturday 18 February: Gameweek 24 – Nottingham Forest (a)
• Wednesday 22 February: Champions League, round of 16 – RB Leipzig (a)
• Saturday 25 February: Gameweek 25 – Bournemouth (a)
• Tuesday 28 February: FA Cup, fifth round – Bristol City (a)
• Saturday 4 March: Gameweek 26 – Newcastle United (h)
• Saturday 11 March: Gameweek 27 – Crystal Palace (a)
• Tuesday 14 March: Champions League, round of 16 – RB Leipzig (h)
• Sunday 19 March: Gameweek 28 – West Ham United (h) *OR* an FA Cup quarter-final *OR* no fixture at all

There’s only one free midweek for Manchester City to enjoy before we get to the March international break, which will only heighten the uncertainty around Pep Guardiola’s teamsheets.

Not that the City manager needs fixture congestion to keep us guessing with his line-ups, as he generally opts for a horses-for-courses approach – Bernardo Silva (£6.8m) as an inverted left-back against Aston Villa, anyone? – in matches rather consistency of selection like his former protege favours at Arsenal.

The Gameweek 24 and 25 trips to Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth are of some concern, falling as they do less than 72 hours after trickier-on-paper away games at Arsenal and RB Leipzig respectively. City now do a lot of travelling, incidentally, and aren’t back at home until March.

So getting 90 minutes out of Erling Haaland (£12.2m) in either of the next two league fixtures might not be a guarantee; then again, early withdrawals in Gameweeks 5 and 21 (which both fell within three-match weeks) came after he had scored hat-tricks!

Aside from those sometimes unpredictable week-to-week tweaks, there have been more blatant ‘rests’ handed out by Guardiola in the past.

Gameweek 25 of 2021/22 springs to mind, when the City head coach benched hitherto regulars Kevin De Bruyne (£12.4m), Joao Cancelo (£7.1m), Rodri (£5.6m) and Aymeric Laporte (£5.7m) for a league match against Norwich City, which fell three days before a Champions League clash with Sporting.

LIVERPOOL

• Monday 13 February: Gameweek 23 – Everton (h)
• Saturday 18 February: Gameweek 24 – Newcastle United (a)
• Tuesday 21 February: Champions League, round of 16 – Real Madrid (h)
• Saturday 25 February: Gameweek 25 – Crystal Palace (a)
• Wednesday 1 March: Gameweek 25 – Wolverhampton Wanderers (h)
• Sunday 5 March: Gameweek 26 – Manchester United (h)
• Saturday 11 March: Gameweek 27 – Bournemouth (a)
• Wednesday 15 March: Champions League, round of 16 – Real Madrid (a)
• Saturday 18 March: Gameweek 28 – Fulham (h) *OR* no fixture at all

The return to fitness of Diogo Jota (£8.8m) and Roberto Firmino (£8.0m) could be significant with the Reds about to embark on a busy-ish period in which they get only one free midweek between now and the March international break.

Darwin Nunez’s (£8.7m) game-time is a bit of a concern, then, while even Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) – to a lesser extent – might see managed minutes at some point in the next month.

Next week’s Champions League, round-of-16 tie against Real Madrid falls within Gameweeks 24 and 25, with the return leg dissecting Gameweeks 27 and 28 (Liverpool could blank in the latter of Fulham progress to the FA Cup quarter-finals).

The good news is that, apart from that aforementioned potentially postponed game against the Cottagers, there are no Wednesday-Saturday turnarounds on the horizon – something that Jurgen Klopp has moaned about in the past.

The upcoming ‘double’ throws another Premier League fixture into the schedule but even then, a Saturday-Wednesday-Sunday run is on the generous side in Gameweeks 25 and 26.

CHELSEA

• Saturday 11 February: Gameweek 23 – West Ham United (a)
• Wednesday 15 February: Champions League, round of 16 – Borussia Dortmund (a)
• Saturday 18 February: Gameweek 24 – Southampton (h)
• Sunday 26 February: Gameweek 25 – Tottenham Hotspur (a)
• Saturday 4 March: Gameweek 26 – Leeds United (h)
• Tuesday 7 March: Champions League, round of 16 – Borussia Dortmund (h)
• Saturday 11 March: Gameweek 27 – Leicester City (a)
• Saturday 18 March: Gameweek 28 – Everton (h)

Tonight’s match in Germany finishes 65 hours before Chelsea entertain Southampton, which could be problematic for Gameweek 24 given that Graham Potter has plenty of previous for rotation in busy periods.

The former Brighton boss made five changes to his line-up between Gameweeks 11 and 12 (this was part of a three-game Premier League week) and seven alterations between Gameweeks 9 and 10, with most of the Gameweek 9 starters also featuring in a Champions League group game in between.

Given Reece James‘ (£5.8m) recent return from injury and his comments below, any sustained game-time for the England international in Europe on Wednesday would lead to concerns about a start in Gameweek 24.

“It has to be something I think about. I can’t just try to play every minute of every game because it wouldn’t make sense. I need to try and stay injury free for the rest of the season and help the team as much as I can. That can only be done by using my head and saying what I feel and how I feel.” – Reece James

The Gameweek 26 clash with Leeds United also falls three days before the Blues take on Borussia Dortmund in the return leg of their Champions League, round-of-16 tie.

The good news from an FPL owner’s pespective is that Chelsea are out of both domestic cups, so there is plenty of breating space either side of those clashes with Dortmund.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR