The Group Stage is nearly over.
It is time to look at some permutations.
After a three-year vacation in the Championship, SB Town will face Smash & Grab again in a Premier League match again next week. Before that meeting though, they managed to get revenge for the 54-48 defeat by the Premier League Champions three weeks ago and put themselves in pole position going into the final game. The Game of the Round saw both The Money Team and The El Dude Brothers pass 50 fantasy points, and it was the League One side that stormed ahead and took those very important three points.
Ole’s at the Wheel turned the tables on AFC Chester, after losing to them 74-55 last time they met, and put the squeeze on the Championship side. If results go their way next week, Ole’s at the Wheel could steal a Quarter-Final place and send Chester next door to the quieter party. Route 57 took four games to get going in the Champions League this season, but were seen off once again by StilluvQPR who won here, and in the league too, thanks to Danny Ings’ opening goal against Birmingham rivals Wolves. Stilluv’s fourth win-in-a-row over R57 means that they cannot be caught by the bottom two and guaranteed themselves a place in the next round.
Web City have only scored an average of 36.6FPts in the 2021CL but they are the highest-scoring team in Group C and having gone unbeaten in the first five games they are also now through to the Quarter-Finals. However, in the next round they will have to face one of the top-scoring teams in the tournament. GoFys missed the chance to claim second place in the group and Barons took advantage of their low score. The result means that GoFYS will host Web City next week needing a win and hoping Barons can collect a second win to finish the group stage on a high.
In Group D, Housewives Favourite finally got the better of Drafty, and the eight-point win was enough to give them the top spot with a lead of a single fantasy point! Mighty Fine Feeling got their second win over Gloopy Yarbles, keeping themselves very much in the race and ensuring that the Championship team miss out on the IML transfer too.
So, there remains a few scenarios that might play out this weekend. In the next round, the winners of each group will play the runners-up of the opposite group. Group A teams will play Group B teams and Group C sides will play Group D sides. The Quarter-Finals are two-legged and ties are broken by most goals scored.
In Group A, all four teams have the potential to finish anywhere. Both of the teams with nine points will play a bottom-two side in the final group game. If SB Town and/or El Dude Bros win or draw their games they will go through. If either of the bottom two sides win then second place will be decided on Fantasy Points, or worse, by a tiebreaker.
– In the case of SB Town versus Money – if SB Town win or draw then they are through, but if SB Town lose then The Money Team will go above them and Town will rely on S&G to win but not to overtake them on fantasy points. The Money Team need to win or they are out of the Champions League.
– Smash & Grab need to win by 12 points or more, or hope Money win with a very low score, in order to make the top two. Outscoring SB Town would give them a big help too, but The Money Team’s FPts total is unlikely to be matched.
Group B is a little more clear-cut. StilluvQPR are through, but don’t know if they will finish first or second. Route 57 are out, but could still qualify for the Intramural League with a third-place finish. R57 will need to score highly and beat AFC Chester in order to do so. AFC Chester will be hoping to hold on to second place with a win or draw, but can also still finish runners-up if Ole’s at the Wheel fail to win. In order to climb up into second place, Ole’s at the Wheel need to win AND outscore Chester by 12 or more.
Webuiltthis City are already guaranteed to progress to the next round as group winners and will find out who their opponents are early next week. Below them is a two-way battle for second place – between All Star Gunners and GoFys. The former will own the second qualifying place with a repeat win over Barons FC, but if they fail to win then they leave the door open to GoFys.
– If ASG draw then GoFYS need to beat Web City “at home” to go through.
– If ASG lose and GoFys win, GoFys qualify as runners-up.
– If ASG lose and GoFys draw, then it will come down to fantasy points. However, ASG have an almost unassailable 42FPts advantage.
Also, Barons FC can keep their hopes of a pre-Christmas trophy alive with a win over ASG. If Barons win and GoFys lose, chances are that Barons will steal third place and join the IML.
Group D has been very entertaining again this year. Despite going unchanged from MD1 to MD4, Group D has been host to three of the top-four-scoring teams in the CL, so far. Poor Gloopy Yarbles have only been able to gleam one win from five games against the Big Three and will wave goodbye to the tourney this weekend. They will go out, hopefully in a blaze of glory, to a Housewives Favourite team that thrashed them 52-19 in GW4.
Wives Fave, who hold the top spot by the narrowest of margins, are best-set to make the next round because even if they lose, they are likely to be level on group points with either Drafty or MFF. Of course, if Wives Fave lose and the other game is drawn, they will be transferred to the IML next week.
In the other match it is all to play for. The winners will definitely go through. The losers will have to wait to see if Wives Fave lose and score badly. Or, as mentioned above, if Drafty and MFF draw and Wives Fave lose, then both teams will sneak through against the odds.
Gameweek 9
Gp A: The El Dude Brothers -v- Smash & Grab
Last time: Smash & Grab 44-41 The El Dude Brothers
Gp A: SB Town Baggers -v- The Money Team
Last time: The Money Team 42-44 SB Town Baggers
Gp B: AFC Chester -v- Route 57 FC
Last time: Route 57 FC 40-46 AFC Chester
Gp B: StilluvQPR -v- Ole’s at the Wheel
Last time: Ole’s at the Wheel 32-54 StilluvQPR
Gp C: GoFys FC -v- Webuiltthis City FC
Last time: Webuiltthis City 32-31 GoFys
Gp C: All Star Gunners -v- Barons FC
Last time: Barons FC 43-66 All Star Gunners
Gp D: Gloopy Yarbles -v- Housewives Favourite
Last time: Housewives Favourite 52-19 Gloopy Yarbles
Gp D: Drafty -v- Mighty Fine Feeling
Last time: Mighty Fine Feeling 47-53 Drafty
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