How to Use starting line in a Sentence

starting line

noun
  • Pereira’s 24 changes to starting line-ups across the first six games this season is now the most by any club.
    — Steve Madeley, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Cherki and Foden were included in the same starting line-up for the first time this season.
    — Jordan Campbell, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
  • Neither player has been in the Premier League starting line-up so far this season.
    — Andy Naylor, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Right now, most organisations are still at the AI starting line.
    — Greg Orme, Forbes.com, 11 Aug. 2025
  • My problem is that starting line, the search process, seems to the most troublesome part of this journey for Miami.
    — Miami Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
  • Guehi has already cemented himself in Tuchel’s starting line-up.
    — Rob Tanner, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Allegri made a single change to his starting line-up from last weekend’s 2-0 win against Cremonese.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Though there were no Englishmen in Arne Slot’s starting line-up, there was plenty to be impressed by in the Palace ranks.
    — Rob Tanner, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
  • The head coach fielded four outfield players aged 34 or over in his starting line-up for Monday’s 1-1 home draw against Bournemouth.
    — Andy Naylor, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Last season’s winners Paris Saint-Germain had players from eight different nations in their starting line-up.
    — Will Jeanes, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2025
  • After a three-match absence from Daniel Farke’s starting line-up, the 27-year-old made a welcome return in Birmingham.
    — Beren Cross, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2026
  • George’s option from Chelsea is around £25m but, despite some promising cameos, the 20-year-old has yet to force his way into Moyes’ starting line-up.
    — Patrick Boyland, New York Times, 25 May 2026
  • This starting line-up had won the previous two matches in the Premier League and given Farke little cause to turn to his alternatives on the bench.
    — Beren Cross, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2026
  • Trent Alexander-Arnold has been dropped for Real Madrid’s starting line-up against Atletico Madrid for being late to training this week.
    — Mario Cortegana, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2026
  • To some, the positional requirement is the way to go and that the baseline should be starting line up multiplied by team size – essentially, the true definition of replacement.
    — Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
  • By anchoring specialized avenues in the Midwest, telehealth establishes an achievable starting line.
    — Gretchen Wittenmyer-Stone, Kansas City Star, 10 Apr. 2026
  • Just two months after signing, Putellas was part of Barcelona’s starting line-up for their Champions League debut against Arsenal.
    — Laia Cervelló Herrero, New York Times, 27 May 2026
  • Enter, Dowman The most interesting of Arteta’s nine changes was the inclusion of Max Dowman in his starting line-up.
    — Art De Roché, New York Times, 24 May 2026
  • Too good to be a benchwarmer, in a starting line-up, the Brazilian’s all-action qualities may align best with Rice to give Arsenal another combative and forward-thinking option in their engine room.
    — Mark Carey, New York Times, 26 June 2026
  • Wesley slotted straight into Gian Piero Gasperini’s starting line-up and scored the only goal on the opening day of the season as Roma defeated Bologna 1-0.
    — Joseph O'Sullivan, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Head coach Tony Popovic made the slightly odd decision to leave out both goalscorers from the Turkey game, Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe, from his starting line-up.
    — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 20 June 2026
  • Lack of stability Since losing the opening league game of the season against Manchester City, Wolves have made a total of 11 changes to their starting line-up across the subsequent three matches.
    — Steve Madeley, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
  • The same sanction was applied to Marcus Rashford in September, as Hansi Flick dropped him from Barcelona’s starting line-up to face Getafe for being late to training that day.
    — Mario Cortegana, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2026
  • That is remarkable considering just two years ago, the Jets used 13 different starting line-up combinations in 17 games in 2023 due to various injuries.
    — Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 5 Jan. 2026
  • Beren Cross Liverpool’s new backroom team For all the focus on the four new faces in Liverpool’s starting line-up, Arne Slot’s backroom staff has also undergone a significant summer makeover.
    — The Athletic Uk Staff, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Cardoso, one month after completing a $35 million move from fellow Spaniards Real Betis, went straight into Diego Simeone’s starting line-up, and played 45 minutes in a 2-1 loss.
    — Henry Bushnell, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2025
  • Gudmundsson has only been absent from four of Leeds manager Daniel Farke’s 33 starting line-ups across all competitions, and Sunday was his 36th appearance of the season when Sweden games are factored in.
    — Beren Cross, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2026
  • In 2014, Cardiff submitted a complaint to the Premier League that their starting line-up had been illegally obtained by Crystal Palace, who had defeated them 3-0, but Palace were only handed a £25,000 fine.
    — Jordan Campbell, New York Times, 21 May 2026
  • Given their exploits in the Europa League semi-final, Vitor Pereira rang the changes to his starting line-up on Monday afternoon, but Forest took a 3-0 lead before an hour was on the clock, with clinical efficiency from Taiwo Awoniyi and Igor Jesus.
    — Mark Carey, New York Times, 11 May 2026
  • Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadion hosted the Women’s Champions League final last month for the first time, with Barcelona’s 4-0 rout of Lyon including three Norwegians — Caroline Graham Hansen, Ingrid Syrstad Engen and Ada Hegerberg — across the two starting line-ups.
    — Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 16 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'starting line.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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