Ahead of the start of the season, we looked at some rotation pairings for the first few months of 2025/26.
Now that the festive fixture pile-up is over, we thought we’d do the same for the weeks leading up to the March international break.
Here, we’re looking to find two (or even three) clubs that have fixtures that dovetail well over the upcoming rounds of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
This could be, for example, useful for Fantasy managers who have an ever-present Arsenal pairing of Jurrien Timber (£6.3m) and Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.7m) and want to keep one spot open for a cheaper defender with a favourable fixture. Or, further up the pitch, it could ensure that at least one of a fifth midfielder/third forward has an appealing match on any given week.
We’re focusing on Gameweeks 22 to 30 in this piece. After that point, we’re likely to start getting some Blank and Double Gameweeks to shake things up.
HOW TO USE THE TICKER TO FIND ROTATION PAIRINGS
We’re using our customisable Fixture Ticker for this article, a tool that lets you filter clubs by rotation as well as other sortable options like fixture difficulty.
Chief Scouts can select any side from the Fixture Ticker and click ‘Sort by Rotation’, which will then organise the other 19 clubs by how well their fixtures intertwine with the original team (as seen above).
BEST FPL FIXTURE ROTATIONS
A number of possible combinations aren’t, in our opinion, as relevant in FPL terms, given a club’s likelihood of scoring points on the road and/or in “harder” fixtures, as well as the price tags associated with assets of certain teams (Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, for example).
But for some potential rotation pairings of more budget-friendly FPL players, read on.
EVERTON + BOURNEMOUTH
We’ll first cast an eye over the potential rotation opportunities with Everton and Bournemouth.
Gameweek 22 is a tricky one to call, with both sides away from home, though you’d expect Brighton (A) to be an easier game than Aston Villa (A). From that point on, it’s rather simpler, as shown in the Fixture Ticker screenshot above, with Gameweek 26 – when they play each other – the other main point of contention.
Turning to the players, the multi-match suspension of Michael Keane (£4.8m) throws a spanner in the works of what could otherwise have been a solid defensive rotation pairing here with one Marcos Senesi (£4.8m); although, benching one of these defensive contribution (DefCon) earns with an eye for an attacking return in any fixture does of course open the door to potential FPL heartbreak.
James Tarkowski (£5.7m) is the obvious Keane replacement from the Toffees’ own ranks, though the versatile Jake O’Brien (£4.9m) is another (cheaper) option. David Moyes could look to bring in a right-back this month, though, so watch that space.
We can’t advocate for an Everton striker, both due to the existing options’ form and the fact that Moyes is also said to be keen on recruiting in that area of the pitch, too, but the budget-friendly Eli Kroupi Jr (£4.6m) may be about to receive a gametime boost under Andoni Iraola.
He, and even someone like Marcus Tavernier (£5.5m), could rotate with Everton’s cheap FPL all-round midfielder – and set-piece taker – James Garner (£5.1m).
LEEDS UNITED + BOURNEMOUTH
The Cherries sit top of the Fixture Ticker between Gameweeks 22 and 30, so naturally, they are going to feature in a few of these pairings.
Leeds, though, have a kinder-looking clash in Gameweek 23, after an arguably better Gameweek 22 match as well, before offering decent alternatives to the Bournemouth bunch in the likes of Gameweek 25 and 29.
The newly-promoted side have been serving up budget options all season, with the reborn Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m) the most expensive of their assets in FPL. If you own DCL, you probably wouldn’t want to bench him in any game at the moment, but the Whites’ midfield boasts the likes of Brenden Aaronson (£5.4m) – 10 attacking returns this season, six of them in the last seven games – plus DefCon-earning Anton Stach (£4.9m).
Clean sheets have been few and far between for Daniel Farke’s men, but wing-back Gabriel Gudmundsson (£3.8m) is uber-cheap, while centre-backs Pascal Struijk (£4.3m), Joe Rodon (£3.9m) and Jaka Bijol (£3.9m) have all carried some attacking threat this season.
Struijk has earned DefCon points in five of his last six matches, while Bijol has done so twice and also has two assists in that time.
BOURNEMOUTH + FULHAM
Our last potential dance partner with Bournemouth (for now) is Fulham.
With the form they – especially Harry Wilson (£5.9m) – are in, you’d probably back the Cottagers against both Leeds (A) and Brighton (H) ahead of Iraola’s men’s corresponding games in those first rounds.
So too for Gameweeks 25 (Everton v Aston Villa), 29 (West Ham v Brentford) and possibly 28 (Tottenham v Sunderland).
Like Calvert-Lewin, Wilson’s owners are unlikely to bench the Welshman in any fixture on current form, so who else could be rotated with the Bournemouth assets we mentioned earlier?.
DefCon deliverer Joachim Andersen (£4.6m) is probably the stand-out rotation-worthy pick here: he’s banked defensive contribution points in a whopping 65% of his starts this season.
FULHAM + CRYSTAL PALACE
