ePL Finals Day 1 review: Man City ease through

The 2023/24 ePremier League Finals got under way on Saturday 20 January as players representing 10 of the 20 Premier League clubs battled it out in Group Stage action for the first time. Players from the remaining 10 clubs will be in action on Sunday.

The newly introduced stage of ePremier League Finals gives clubs the opportunity to bypass a stage of the Finals and move straight into the quarter-finals of the Knockout phase, returning on Day 2 of the Grand Finals.

See: Watch Sunday's action here

With the clubs split into four groups of five, it's an all-or-nothing shootout to top the group for that ticket to the ePremier League quarter-finals in March.

We jumped straight in to Saturday's action with West Ham's PS5 player GRK scoring the first goal of the day, just minutes into his tie against Everton's DanielZanieri-1996.

Not long later, the first goal of the ePremier League broadcast was scored in a huge tie, as Chelsea's Conkai found a surprising early lead against Man City's ePremier League debutant Bonanno.

The tie between hotly tipped favourites Man City and Chelsea went right down to the wire, with Bonanno's narrow comeback victory over Conkai proving enough to get the job done as Tekkz and JSharp played out a 10-goal thriller that ended all-square at 5-5.

From there, though, Man City went on to cruise their way through Group A, with dominant victories over Burnley, West Ham and finally Everton, as Tekkz and Bonanno combined for double figures in all three ties.

The dominant unbeaten run left no doubt that favourites Man City would cruise their way to a guaranteed spot in the quarter-finals, as they topped Group A.

City's record of seven wins and a draw from eight games left them on 22 points, double the score of Group A runners-up Chelsea.

Despite a strong showing from the duo of Conkai and JSharp, there's no prize for second place in the Group Stage and Chelsea will have to display the same level of performance again in the ePremier League Grand Finals to make it through to the late Knockout Stages.

Big wins for Brighton

Group B saw a much tighter affair, with many fans and players backing either Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest to progress - but both were stunned by an impressive run by Brighton duo Jayden Gordon and Marley.

The eScottish Championship duo kept their impressive run together going with big wins throughout the Group Stage phase, only falling to one defeat between them.

Jayden Groden kicked off the Group B fixtures with a dramatic late winner against Newcastle's Painter, keeping his cool in front of goal, but Newcastle's Bancs struck back with a last-minute winner of his own against Brighton's Marley.

That would be the only leg Brighton lost as they continued on a strong run through the group, but it was certainly all up for grabs in Group B.

Wins were traded all evening on the ePremier League live stream with drama aplenty, though Nott'm Forest couldn't shake off the stalemates which hurt their points tally.

See: ePL scores and standings

The pick for many to top Group B with the duo of RedLac and GoalPoacher, Nott'm Forest actually matched Man City in going unbeaten throughout their Group Stage fixtures - but only managed to convert three of those eight games into wins.

A whopping five draws, including two against eventual group winners Brighton, meant Nott'm Forest fell short by a total of three points, finishing on 14 with Brighton on 17.

RedLac and GoalPoacher will surely be replaying some missed opportunities in their heads, as converting just one against Brighton would have turned the tide and seen them top Group B courtesy of goal difference.

Full credit to Brighton's Scottish duo, though, who become the second club to book their ticket straight to Sunday of Grand Finals weekend, joining Man City.

For Nott'm Forest, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Sheffield United from Group B, as well as Group A's Chelsea, West Ham, Everton and Burnley, the ePremier League is far from over, but they'll have to be at the top of their game from the get-go when they return for the Grand Finals in March.