Players often produce their best hauls in home matches, so wouldn't it be handy if Fantasy Premier League managers could guarantee as many home fixtures for their starting XI as possible?
The 2024/25 fixture list has revealed a way that you can do just that.
There are some team pairings, such as Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, who alternate home and away over the whole season.
If managers own a player from each club in their Fantasy squad, then in each Gameweek they can select the one who is at home, putting them in their starting XI, while benching the one who has the away match.
This strategy is most effective when swapping between two cut-price players, either goalkeepers or defenders, who cost less than £5.0m.
Fantasy managers should therefore seek out pairings who offer the best potential for clean sheets.
2024/25 rotation pairings
| Team 1 | Team 2 |
|---|---|
| Arsenal | Spurs |
| Aston Villa | Nott'm Forest |
| Brentford | Southampton |
| Brighton | Ipswich |
| Chelsea | Fulham |
| Liverpool | Everton |
| Man City | Man Utd |
| Newcastle | Crystal Palace |
| West Ham | AFC Bournemouth |
| Wolves | Leicester |
An ideal example from the above table is Newcastle United and Crystal Palace.
Newcastle kept eight clean sheets in home matches last season, second only to the nine of Everton. But the Magpies were far less resilient on their travels, claiming a mere two shutouts.
Palace were also more reliable when playing at home in 2023/24, with six of their 10 clean sheets earned at Selhurst Park.
Chelsea and Fulham also fared better defensively on home soil last season.
They combined for a total of 12 clean sheets across those contests, with both clubs claiming six clean sheets apiece.
However, Chelsea and Fulham managed only six shutouts between them in away matches, returning two and four respectively.
In this series of articles, The Scout will be highlighting clubs and players who can be paired together effectively for the season ahead.