Counted through 24 May 2026
Managers talk about settled sides. The team sheets tell you who actually picks one. We count every change each club makes to its starting XI from one match to the next, then rank the whole division, from the most settled side to the one nobody can predict.
Everton lead with 58 changes across 38 matches. At the other end, Chelsea have made 121.
Lineup changes this season
| # | Club | Changes | Matches | Per match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everton | 58 | 38 | 1.57 |
| 2 | Sunderland | 63 | 38 | 1.70 |
| 3 | West Ham | 63 | 38 | 1.70 |
| 4 | Leeds | 64 | 38 | 1.73 |
| 5 | Brentford | 66 | 38 | 1.78 |
| 6 | Nottingham Forest | 67 | 38 | 1.81 |
| 7 | Bournemouth | 71 | 38 | 1.92 |
| 8 | Fulham | 71 | 38 | 1.92 |
| 9 | Burnley | 72 | 38 | 1.95 |
| 10 | Manchester United | 72 | 38 | 1.95 |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | 78 | 38 | 2.11 |
| 12 | Liverpool | 78 | 38 | 2.11 |
| 13 | Brighton | 82 | 38 | 2.22 |
| 14 | Manchester City | 88 | 38 | 2.38 |
| 15 | Arsenal | 94 | 38 | 2.54 |
| 16 | Wolves | 98 | 38 | 2.65 |
| 17 | Tottenham | 102 | 38 | 2.76 |
| 18 | Newcastle | 105 | 38 | 2.84 |
| 19 | Aston Villa | 110 | 38 | 2.97 |
| 20 | Chelsea | 121 | 38 | 3.27 |
Static defence
The back line tells a different story to the XI as a whole. A manager can rotate a front three every week and still name the same defenders all season. Crystal Palace have the longest unchanged back line, 10 matches in a row.
| Club | Longest run | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Crystal Palace | 10 | 1 |
| Manchester City | 9 | 1 |
| Leeds | 8 | 1 |
| Aston Villa | 7 | 1 |
| Everton | 6 | 5 |
| Liverpool | 5 | 1 |
| Bournemouth | 5 | 3 |
| Newcastle | 5 | 1 |
| Fulham | 5 | 2 |
| Nottingham Forest | 5 | 1 |
Longest unchanged runs
Naming an unchanged team twice is common. Doing it four or five times running is rare, and usually means either a manager who has found his best side or one with no other options. The longest run in our records belongs to Sunderland: 4 matches with the same eleven.
| Club | Longest run | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Sunderland | 4 | 1 |
| West Ham | 4 | 1 |
| Brentford | 4 | 1 |
| Crystal Palace | 4 | 1 |
| Leeds | 4 | 1 |
| Bournemouth | 3 | 1 |
| Fulham | 3 | 1 |
| Tottenham | 3 | 1 |
| Manchester City | 3 | 1 |
| Nottingham Forest | 3 | 1 |
The rotation index
Changes per match, alongside how many different players each club has given a start. A big squad that still picks the same team scores low here, which is the point: rotation is a choice, not a consequence of having options.
| Club | Changes per match | Players used |
|---|---|---|
| Chelsea | 3.27 | 27 |
| Aston Villa | 2.97 | 26 |
| Newcastle | 2.84 | 23 |
| Tottenham | 2.76 | 26 |
| Wolves | 2.65 | 27 |
| Arsenal | 2.54 | 24 |
| Manchester City | 2.38 | 26 |
| Brighton | 2.22 | 24 |
| Liverpool | 2.11 | 22 |
| Crystal Palace | 2.11 | 24 |
How we count a change
A change is any player who starts a match having not started the one before it, in the same competition. An unchanged eleven scores zero; a completely new team scores eleven. The first match of a season sets the baseline and counts for nothing, and a team sheet that reaches us incomplete is skipped rather than counted as wholesale change.
Everything here comes from official team sheets as published at kickoff, not from predicted or reported lineups. Records are bounded by the seasons we hold, so a "longest run" is the longest in our records rather than an all-time claim.
Think you can call this week's XIs before the team sheets drop? Predict your XI on Starting 11 →