The first ever ePremier League is just around the corner, with all 20 teams from the Premier League taking part with two UK-based esports players each.
The ePremier League is one of several “eleagues” around the world that are part of the FIFA 19 Global Series, including the eMLS and eBundesliga.
Each Premier League club has whittled down hundreds of entrants to just two players each (one Xbox and one PlayStation) to represent them in the ePremier League Grand Final in London on the 28th and 29th of March.
The tournament will be broadcast live both on Sky Sports and the Premier League’s digital channels.
How were the players selected?
For the forty players competing in the Grand Final, their ePremier League journey began in January with online qualifiers. Entrants selected the team they wanted to represent and had to finish in the top sixteen of that club’s online leaderboard on your console to progress to the Club Playoffs.
The Club Playoffs were hosted through February and March by each Premier League club to find their two players for the Grand Final. The sixteen qualified players on each console battled it out in a fierce day of competition leaving an Xbox and PlayStation winner.
The console winners will now don the shirt of their Premier League club at the live Grand Final.
Who is representing each team?
Both established FIFA pros and fresh faces have conquered the Club Playoffs to be in with a shot of becoming the first ever ePremier League champions.
From the player currently ranked number one in the world in the FIFA Global Series, Donovan “F2Tekkz” Hunt (Liverpool), to boyhood fans of their club like Dan “Gingerninja95x” Hilliard (Brighton), there is a great mix of talent on show.
Here’s the full list of each club’s two-man teams, complete with their Global Series world ranking for their console in brackets (NR = not registered).
What’s the prize?
The winning ePremier League duo will each receive the top prize of 850 Global Series points and a yet to be confirmed cash prize.
The Global Series points are just as valuable as the money to pro players as they contribute towards their Global Series ranking, which is done in a leaderboard format. The more Global Series points you have, the higher up the leaderboard you’ll be.
All season pros qualify for events like the ePremier League to earn these points and out of the thousands of registered players across the world, only the top 64 on each console will make it through to the Playoffs in June.
Who are the favourites?
There are some very experienced and established pro players who have qualified to represent their Premier League club and there are some standout duos who will be favourites for the title.
The Chelsea duo of Ryan “Hashtag Ryan” Pessoa and Jas “Jas1875” Singh are one of the highest ranked pairings in the competition. Both have major tournament experience and will both be driven to get as many Global Series points as possible to secure themselves a Playoff spot.
When you’ve got the best player in the world on your side, you’re always likely to be considered one of the front-runners for the title. Liverpool have Xbox’s number one ranked player Donovan “F2Tekkz” Hunt in their arsenal. He has a record-breaking 5 titles to his name already this season and is strides ahead at the top of the rankings, but alongside the unranked and unproven Dariosh Krowner on the PS4 will they be able to go all the way?
A strong duo on paper, Tottenham Hotspurs’ Kylem “Lyricz” Edwards and Simon “Zimme” Nystedt area good mix of form and experience. Both highly ranked players on their consoles, Lyricz has qualified and performed strongly at several events this season already, whereas Zimme has back-to-back Gfinity Elite Series titles under his belt with his parent club, AS Roma.
However, a potential dark horse might be Southampton. In Reece “Rusher7x” Rusher and Owen “Venny” Venn they have two established pros who have several years experience between them. The pair have also have both been signed to big name esports organisations, with Rusher7x currently representing Lightning Pandas and Venny a former player for Method Esports. Expect a strong performance from the Southampton duo.
The ePremier League kicks off on March 28th and concludes on the 29th. You can watch all the action on Sky Sports or the Premier League’s social media channels.