The action from the 2023/24 ePremier League Group Stages continued on Sunday 21 January, with goals, drama and intrigue all in equal measure, as 10 more teams competed to join Man City and Brighton with a metaphorical golden ticket to the tournament quarter-finals in March.
Group C and Group D would be decided on the second day of group stage proceedings, with Luton and Liverpool eventually topping their groups to advance to the Knockout Stages.
Group C proved to be the tightest of the group stage by far, going all the way to the final round of fixtures and only being decided by goal difference.
The drama started early in Group C, with the opening fixture between Bournemouth's VBD and Wolves' xKaiHarris ending level courtesy of a stoppage-time penalty, which Kai converted to equalise.
Luton produce a shock result
Meanwhile ePL debutant HarveyWxters scored a surprise win over former champion Shellzz to kickstart Luton's impressive campaign.
Luton, as ePremier League newcomers as a club, were represented by two players competing in their first live tournament, but the duo of Harvey and LukeDowning certainly weren't phased by the occasion.
The action continued and Fulham and Bournemouth soon drifted out of contention of winning their groups, with the Cottagers slumping to just one win and seven defeats.
Despite a strong showing by Wolves, winning the group was left narrowly out of their reach when the final round of fixtures rolled around, with it being their turn to sit out.
It came down to either group favourites Crystal Palace or newcomers Luton, with Palace only needing wins against a Bournemouth duo with nothing left to play for.
What happened next was perhaps the shock of the weekend, as NathanBP unleashed an onslaught on former champion Shellzz, taking the lead with a goal that chained skill move after skill move in the opening minutes.
From there, Nathan fired in three more goals without reply, all while Luton racked up the goals against Fulham to put the goal difference back into their favour.
Though Shellzz pulled a goal back it wasn't enough, as the Hatters advanced by a single goal despite both sides ending on 16 points, with five wins, a draw and two losses apiece.
Liverpool cope without Tekkz
On, then, to Group D, where last year's losing finalists Spurs entered as favourites, but Liverpool made the perfect start to their ePremier League journey without new Man City recruit Tekkz.
Group D proved, once again, to be a tighter affair than we saw on Day 1, with teams trading wins throughout the group.
It was truly a group there for the taking, though, as Liverpool's Stingrayjnr hammered Spurs newcomer Lyricz in the second round of games, with the Reds taking top spot in Group D.
There they would stay for the rest of the day, despite a resurgent run from former 2020 ePremier League champion Tom Leese for Spurs, it would only be enough for Spurs to finish third in the group.
Group D was unbelievably tight, with Man Utd finishing bottom despite producing eight points with two wins and two draws.
Narrowly avoiding the foot of the group were Brentford with just one more point, coming through three wins. Brentford were one of only three sides not to draw a single match in the group stages.
Closest to Liverpool were Arsenal, finishing three points behind in second with new duo RSD, formerly of Nott'm Forest and the debuting EOJ2.
So, as an exciting new phase of the ePremier League Finals comes to an end, four clubs have booked a place in the final eight of the competition, guaranteeing an appearance on the second day of the Grand Finals and a minimum of £5,000 prize money each.
Man City, Brighton, Luton and Liverpool players can rest easy on the first day of March's Grand Finals knowing they got the job done early, while the other 16 clubs will be back on stage to battle it out once more.
