EPL Supercoach | Navigating the Christmas rotation minefield

The Crunch

Merry Christmas.

Hope you enjoyed the turkey, because the real feast starts now.

Here’s what’s coming: GW18 kicks off Saturday 27th December.

GW19 starts Monday 30th December.

GW20 begins Thursday 2nd January.

GW21 arrives Tuesday 7th January.

Then FA Cup Round 3 hits Saturday, 11th January. (All dates in UK time – add a day if you’re reading this from Australia.)

Five rounds of fixtures in 16 days. Chaos.

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I’m no sports scientist, but I’ve watched enough football to know the pattern: when recovery periods drop to two days between matches, rotation starts happening.

When you get back-to-back two-day recoveries?

Managers have no choice.

Your £12 million premium suddenly watches from the bench while you’re scrambling for a playing substitute.

This article gives you the foresight into who’s getting rotated over the next few weeks, so you don’t get caught with a non-playing bench and a red arrow.

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Understanding the Recovery Periods

Let’s use Arsenal as the blueprint.

They play Brighton on 27th December (GW18).

Then Aston Villa on 30th December (GW19) – that’s two days’ recovery.

Then Bournemouth on 3rd January (GW20) – three days’ recovery.

Then Liverpool on 8th January (GW21) – four days’ recovery.

Finally, the FA Cup against Portsmouth on 11th January – two days’ recovery again.

Arsenal might rotate between Brighton and Villa when they’re facing a two-day turnaround, and they’ll definitely rotate for Portsmouth.

But Bournemouth and Liverpool with better recovery?

More likely to see their strongest XI.

The table below shows these recovery periods for each team AFTER their match in each gameweek.

All teams have decent recovery heading into GW18 thanks to Christmas (except Manchester United and Newcastle, who play on Boxing Day).

Recovery Period Table

Key:

• 🔴 2 = 2-day recovery (high rotation risk)
• 3 = 3-day recovery (medium rotation risk)
• 4 = 4-day recovery (lowest rotation risk)

Team	After GW18 (27-29 Dec)	After GW19 (30 Dec-1 Jan)	After GW20 (2-4 Jan)	After GW21 (5-8 Jan)	Back-to-Back 2-Day Recoveries
Arsenal	🔴 2	3	4	🔴 2	0
Aston Villa	🔴 2	3	3	🔴 2	0
Bournemouth	🔴 2	3	3	🔴 2	0
Brighton	🔴 2	3	3	3	0
Burnley	🔴 2	3	3	🔴 2	0
Liverpool	4	🔴 2	3	3	0
Man Utd	3	4	🔴 2	3	0
West Ham	🔴 2	3	🔴 2	4	0
Wolves	🔴 2	3	3	🔴 2	0
Chelsea	🔴 2	4	🔴 2	🔴 2	1
Everton	🔴 2	4	🔴 2	🔴 2	1
Fulham	4	🔴 2	🔴 2	🔴 2	1
Leeds Utd	3	🔴 2	🔴 2	3	1
Newcastle	3	4	🔴 2	🔴 2	1
Nottm Forest	🔴 2	3	🔴 2	🔴 2	1
Brentford	4	🔴 2	🔴 2	🔴 2	2
Crystal Palace	3	🔴 2	🔴 2	🔴 2	2
Man City	4	🔴 2	🔴 2	🔴 2	2
Sunderland	3	🔴 2	🔴 2	🔴 2	2
Tottenham	3	🔴 2	🔴 2	🔴 2	2

The Congestion Hierarchy

Tier 1: Zero Back-to-Back Two-Day Recoveries (Best Schedule)

These teams have breathing room between fixtures.

Rotation might happen once, but not systematically across multiple gameweeks.

The Clean Schedule Crew:

• Aston Villa
• Arsenal
• Bournemouth
• Brighton
• Burnley
• Liverpool
• Manchester United
• West Ham
• Wolves

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Arsenal: With this schedule, mainstays like Saka, Saliba, and Timber avoid rotation (especially crucial with their defensive injuries), but fringe players like Eze get benched for one match minimum.

Liverpool: They’re dropping like flies. With this schedule, picks like Ekitike and Szoboszlai (from next week – suspended with five yellows this week) become premium targets. Jump on now.

Manchester United: Bruno is gone, but at least he’s worth a fortune. Cunha is the main man left. I don’t have a forward space, but he’s a great buy if you do.

Aston Villa: Well done Rogers owners. I traded him, and he goes 24 and 22 from almost 0 xG. Tough fixtures ahead, but he won’t get rotated.

Tier 2: One Back-to-Back Two-Day Recovery (Moderate Rotation Risk)

These teams hit one congestion pinch point where they face consecutive matches with only two days between them.

Expect squad rotation during that specific stretch, then business as usual.

The One-Crunch Teams:

• Chelsea
• Everton
• Fulham
• Leeds United
• Newcastle
• Nottingham Forest

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Chelsea: Big rotation incoming, definitely in the Fulham game (GW21) and likely against Bournemouth (GW19). Avoid Palmer – he isn’t hitting 90 minutes yet and won’t over this period.

Everton: Don’t let this stop you from getting Tarkowski this week. Their squad lacks depth, and rotation hits the FA Cup game, not the league. Don’t stress (unless you still have Grealish – that’s a problem).

Newcastle: I traded Woltemade, too. Owners can thank me. Didn’t want him with these congested fixtures now that Wissa is back. Avoiding their defence as well.

Tier 3: Two Back-to-Back Two-Day Recoveries (Maximum Rotation Risk)

These teams face the double whammy – two separate periods of back-to-back fixtures with minimal recovery. Managers will rotate heavily. Don’t expect your premiums to play every match.

The Rotation Roulette:

• Brentford
• Crystal Palace
• Manchester City
• Sunderland
• Tottenham

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Crystal Palace: They look leggy right now, with Europe plus the Arsenal game overnight. Avoid.

Manchester City: Pep Roulette time – Sunderland on 1st (Away), Chelsea 4th (Home), Brighton 7th (Home). Minimal travel and the Chelsea game is a must-win. Rotation hits the easier fixtures. Back Haaland and Foden, but have a backup plan for every game.

Brentford: Thaigo still gets minutes and starts, but early subs are likely. He’s less appealing without Dango winning cheap penalties, but last time I traded him out, he destroyed United. Recurring trend with my forwards.

The Play

Recovery periods matter more than fixture colour over the next three weeks.

A tough fixture with guaranteed minutes beats an easy fixture with rotation uncertainty every time.

Target the guaranteed minutes: Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester United key men all play through this period.

Zero back-to-back two-day recoveries means Arteta, Slot, and Ten Hag play their strongest XIs.

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Avoid City and Palace.

Maximum congestion, maximum rotation risk.

Easy fixtures mean nothing when your premium gets benched.

With your Bruno cash, upgrade your weakest defender or midfielder.

The template is raising its floors – match it.

My worst defenders are Saliba and Van Dijk.

My worst mid is Minteh.

I’ve already done the work – if your floor isn’t that high yet, use the Bruno money to get there.

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My Plan

Brought in Ekitike last week despite the points loss.

Liverpool’s schedule makes him essential over this stretch.

Bruno to Rice this week.

Arsenal’s clean schedule, plus Rice’s set-piece threat, with their defensive injuries creating opportunities.

Solid floor, massive ceiling.

Sitting on £11 million in the bank.

The pricing in this format is broken – money comes too easily.

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Using it to upgrade Minteh next week once I see how GW18 shakes out.

Either a premium midfielder or elite defender, depending on who survives rotation.

The defensive upgrade is overdue.

Saliba and Van Dijk are both excellent, but they’re my worst defenders – that tells you everything about where I’m targeting value.

Merry Christmas.

Enjoy the football chaos while everyone else is still working through leftovers.