The groups for the 2022/23 ePremier League finals have been revealed, with some big clashes of clubs lined up for Saturday, the first day of the two-day tournament.
22/23 ePL group stage match-ups
| GROUP A | GROUP B | GROUP C | GROUP D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crystal Palace | Liverpool | Leeds | Spurs |
| Brighton | Man City | Man Utd | Nott'm Forest |
| Aston Villa | Fulham | West Ham | Leicester |
| Southampton | Wolves | Newcastle | Bournemouth |
| Arsenal | Brentford | Chelsea | Everton |
*click on the clubs for player profiles
All 20 Premier League clubs will be represented, with two players for each club battling for the honour of becoming ePremier League Champion and winning a share of the £100,000 prize pool.
The groups have been seeded according to the combined FGS Points of the clubs' two players.
Heavyweight encounters in group B
There is an exciting match-up in Group B, where Liverpool face Manchester City. All four players from the two clubs - Donovan "Tekkz" Hunt, Diogo Mendes, Ryan Pessoa and Shaun "Shellzz" Springette - have featured in three of the five ePL finals.
Furthermore, two of the four are former champions. Tekkz claimed the title in 2019 with Liverpool, while Shellz won in 2021 with Man City.
But, neither of these two champions will go up against each other due to them playing on different platforms.
Ex-champions representing new clubs
Jack "GoalPoacher" Wignall will be looking for back-to-back successes in the tournament, having won the 2021/22 title with Norwich City. This time around he is representing West Ham and says it would be a "brilliant achievement" to win it for a second successive season.
Another former champion hoping to regain the ePL Trophy is Tom Leese.
He won the 2019/20 prize with Watford, and is representing Spurs again, looking to improve on last season's display, where he was eliminated at the group stage.
Keep an eye out for Marley, too. The 2020 finalist is representing Brighton this season and alongside Tekkz, is the only other player to have featured in all five ePL Grand Finals.
There is also a return to the ePL scene for Kyleleese, who is competing in his first finals since 2019/20. Representing Man Utd, he is looking to go one step further, having finished as runner-up in 2018/19.
Will new duo Brentford take forward?
Brentford were beaten finalists in their debut ePL campaign in 2021/22, and have a new look line-up for 2022/23.
They will hope Scottish duo Adam Ryan and xBigStuff can take them all the way. The latter is making his debut in the tournament.
Finals explained
ePL 2022/23 Finals dates
| Date | Times | Stages |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Mar | 12:00-18:00 GMT | Group stage |
| 26 Mar | 15:00-18:30 BST | Quarter-finals / Semi-finals / Final |
Now into its fifth year, this season’s ePL Finals will again be hosted at Here East in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Where to watch
The action will be televised in the UK on Sky Sports Premier League and shown across the League’s digital channels (YouTube, web, app and Facebook).
It will also be streamed on EA’s Twitch channel, plus Sky Sports’ YouTube platform and app.
What's the format for the group stage?
Groups are seeded according to the two players’ combined FGS Points from the FIFA leaderboard as of 27 February 2023.
In each group, two matches of FIFA 23 will be played between the same four players from the two clubs, with the aggregate score of the two matches determining the winner.
The first match will be played between the two clubs' Xbox players, with the second match played between same two clubs' PlayStation players.
How are points awarded?
Clubs will receive three points for winning a match, one point for a draw, and no points for a defeat.
Who qualifies for knockout round?
Clubs will play each other once to determine who goes through to the knockout round. The two highest-finishing clubs in each group will qualify.
What happens if two clubs finish level on points in a group?
Where two clubs have equal points at the end of the group stage, the following tie-breaker procedure will apply to determine, which club qualify:
- The club with the best head-to-head record of the two equally ranked clubs;
- The club with the best overall goal difference at the end group stages;
- The club who won the most matches during the group stages;
- The club who scored the most goals during the group stages;
- If the clubs cannot be separated by any of the rules above, the League will organise matches between those clubs to determine who qualifies
What's the format for the knockout round?
The eight qualifying clubs for the knockout round will be seeded according to their finishing position in each group.
Clubs will play matches against each other in the same format as the group stages, with the winner progressing to the next round.
What happens if a knockout match ends in a draw?
Where a knockout round match ends in a draw, as in the aggregate score of the two matches is equal, extra-time and a penalty shootout (if required) will be used to determine the winner.
The platform used for extra-time and the penalty shootout (if required) shall be determined by a coin toss before the start of the match.
Matches will continue until one club remain, with this club becoming the winner of the "ePremier League Grand Final" and therefore the "ePremier League Champion".