Gameweek 32 has just ended (and it was a long one!) but before the scores are finalised, here’s a look at the games ahead and see who’s in line for promotion and Champions League qualification.
As always, next season’s Champions League places will be given to the top four teams in the Premier League and the Championship, the top three teams in League One & League Two, the Champions League holders (Tralfamadore Zoo FC) and this season the BFFA Cup spot will be taken by the Super Cup winners.
If there are any overlaps – if Tralfamadore Zoo or the Super Cup winners qualify from their league position, then the space will be offered to the Super Cup loser. If they also finish in the top 3/top 4, another space may become available. Any remaining slots will be offered to the next best teams in the Best-ish table, i.e. the highest fantasy-point-scoring team that hadn’t yet qualified.
Premier League After GW31
Championship After 31
League One After 31
League Two After 31
Premier League
Blue Line – Champions League Places; Red Line – Relegation Zone
What better place to start than the Premier League? Not only is it the hottest fantasy league in the world, but just look at that title race! Mighty fine feeling, who were bottom of the League in October, were fifteen points behind Smash & Grab at the start of their incredible 14-game win streak but now they are level on points, and twelve points clear of third place. On top of that, this week Mff and S&G became the first two teams to join Tralfamadore Zoo in the 2021 Champions League. With wins over the teams in fourth and fifth, Smash & Grab and Mighty fine feeling are now guaranteed a top four spot.
The Money Team in third place also have a comfortable lead over the two teams below them. Being fifteen points above All Star Gunners means that they are two wins from Champions League qualification, but more importantly to them, their five-point cushion over Bigger than Brolin in fourth means that they are looking good for a finish in the money. Money Team have big games with Mff in GW33 and BtB in GW35, but this week they will have to face a Vanishing Spray fighting to remain in the Premier League next season.
Bigger than Brolin are edging closer to a Champions League place and a win over ASG this week will put them thirteen points clear with just six games remaining. And if Money lose this week too then they will also be within striking distance of a profitable third place finish. Of course, if All Star Gunners get the three points this week then they will feel like fourth place is attainable, especially as they still have to face the bottom four once more before the end of the season.
Unfortunately, this week also saw our first team resigned to relegation. With just eleven points so far this season and with a loss to Spray last week, AC Reykjavik CobbleHill now know that they will be playing Championship football in 2021-22. However, as they still have to face the all of top six, they are still very relevant and could possibly fancy themselves as potential kingmakers.
Championship
Like the Premier League, the Championship offers four places into the Champions League, plus it also hosts Winter Cup Champions stilluvQPR who will be playing in the Super Cup in GW35. After losing to stilluvQPR last week, Route 57 missed their chance to seal a Top 4 spot and will have to wait a little longer to officially join the 2021 Champions League party. For stilluvQPR, it was their sixth win in a row and kept their promotion chances alive. In order to make the top three places, they will need AFC Chester to lose some of that momentum they’ve been enjoying in the second half of the season. They have won fifteen of the last eighteen league matches, including the last two games against the Winter Cup winners. The pair will meet next week in GW33.
Similarly, SB Town Baggers have beaten promotion rivals GoFYS the last two times they have met, but lost the first meeting in GW6. They meet this week as second and fourth in the league with GoFYS eight points ahead of fifth place and SB Town another nine above them.
Hung Like a Bony are fighting for survival and have to face the teams second and third this week and next. They have a four-point cushion between them and the drop zone. A win for them either week could spell disaster for Cornballers who are on the brink of relegation now and running out of time. Meanwhile, East Loop United and Banana Swans are playing each other this week in a relegation six-pointer, trying to clamber over each other to get above the red line to safety.
League One
Web City won a one-pointer last week despite scoring no goals and their opponents scoring five. Globes, who are eight points and a whole heap of FPts from safety, had four players out, didn’t use their subs and lost points in the dying moments of the weekend when Ward-Prowse (who had earlier been booked) saw his penalty saved by Sam Johnstone. The result means that Web City could be promoted this weekend if they beat Chicken and Bacon Sane and Wijnaldum Leviosa lose to Gloopy Yarbles.
Wijnaldum, who lost their first game in seven last week to second-placed RelicFC, have another difficult fixture against third-placed Gloopy Yarbles, a huge game that could either give the Yarbles an eight point cushion above the promotion line or bring Leviosa right back into the fight. The team in fourth probably have the easier run-in as the Yarbles still have the top two to face once more. Leviosa also stand up as the best-of-the-rest should a place open up for the Champions League next season. With the best haul of the teams outside of the qualification spots (1278 FPts) they could still qualify if the both Cup winners (stilluvQPR and Goleta Hotspur/Bigger than Brolin) also qualify for the CL as a top 3/top 4 team.
Of RelicFC‘s next four opponents – Goleta, Sugar Daddies, Globes and Gloopy – only one team has taken three points from them this season (The Globes won 37-33 in GW25). Relic, who finished second in League One in 2017/18 (just one point behind Webuiltthis City) have increased their promotion hopes by taking three points from Wijnaldum last week and hope to put fifth-placed Goleta Hotspur to the same fate this week too.
League Two
Of the four league leaders, Housewives’ Favourite currently have the biggest lead over second place and look good for promotion. However, as the tightest league of the four, this landscape could quickly transform. With 21 League points still available, League Two is primed for a shake up. If Sorry not so sorry can get a result over third-placed Ole’s at the Wheel this week then they can get back into the fight for a top three place and be within reach of the money. And if The El Dude Brothers lose another game to Jaysokker, then they will be looking over their shoulder until the final gameweek.
Klopps and Robbers are now the league’s form team (6W) after Bros had their 6-game win streak broken last week by the league leaders. K&R are one win behind third with a better FPts total, but Fossvogur may be a difficult opponent this week. Although Foss lost 18 of their first 22 games, they have since won 6 in 9, including a 24-22 win over K&R last time they met. K&R will also be watching the fortunes of the Super Cup teams and Wijnaldum Leviosa in the final few weeks because if the planets align then they could sneak also into the Champions League on Fantasy Points Scored.
The 2021 CL Reserve Teams
The Super Cup will be played in GW35 between the Winter Cup winners (stilluvQPR) and the Spring Cup winners (Bigger than Brolin or Gloopy Yarbles). The winner of that game will receive a place in the 2021 Champions League next September.
If Tralfamadore Zoo (the Champions League holders) or the Super Cup Winners also occupy a CL-qualifying league place at the end of the season, the spare entry will be given to the Super Cup losers. If the SC losers finish in the top 3 in their league as well (or 4th in the PL or Championship), the free space will go to the top Bestish team that hasn’t yet qualified.
So, if the season were to end today and a space was available, Wijnaldum Leviosa would be that team. Closely behind them right now are K&R (1260 FPts), stilluvQPR (1207 FPts), Vanishing Spray (1168 FPts), Sporting Wicker Park (1162 FPts) and Hung Like a Bony (1161 FPts).
The top of the Best-ish Table:
| Housewives Favourite | 1424 | 1st, League Two * |
| Route 57 | 1349 | 1st, Championship * |
| Smash & Grab | 1314 | 1st, Premier League * |
| SB Town Baggers | 1308 | 2nd, Championship * |
| Gloopy Yarbles ** | 1304 | 3rd, League One * |
| Bigger than Brolin ** | 1286 | 4th, Premier League * |
| Wijnaldum Leviosa | 1278 | 4th, League One |
| Klopps and Robbers | 1260 | 4th, League Two |
| Mighty fine feeling | 1259 | 2nd, Premier League * |
| Webuiltthis City | 1223 | 1st, League One * |
** Spring Cup Finalists
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