More than 275,000 managers reached for their Fantasy Premier League Wildcard chip in Gameweek 4 hoping to turn round the fortunes of their teams, but for nearly three quarters of them it was to little immediate effect.
Of the 275,254 managers who played their Wildcard, only 77,073 (or 28%) enjoyed a climb in their overall rank. The remaining 198,181 suffered a red arrow and a decline.
In fact, the average score of the FPL squads with a Wildcard was active was only 38.7, below the overall average of 41 points.
But why?
Liverpool's 5-0 defeat at Manchester City was perhaps a major contributory factor.
After their 4-0 victory over Arsenal, FPL managers were drawn to the Liverpool attack, with the front three picking up a huge number of new owners.
Roberto Firmino (£8.6m; 374,676 new owners), Mohamed Salah (£9.1m; 238,283) and Sadio Mane (£9.5m; 207,447) were all in the top seven most-bought players heading into the Gameweek and were key attractions for those managers with Wildcards active.
More than 92% of those managers with the Wildcard active had at least one Liverpool player, with 62% (or 172,487 ) fielding two or more.
Gameweek 4 is often identified as the best early opportunity to use the Wildcard chip, due in large to the international break.
But the number of managers to activate it was lower than last season.
Last season a total of 310,522 Wildcards were activated, with 18.1% of total managers doing so.
That figure is down to 15.1% for 2017/18.
Those who looked beyond Gameweek 4 will doubtless be relieved to have kept hold of their Wilcard, given the disappointing initial outcome for so many managers.
Those that played them will hope for a quick recovery, with Liverpool's Anfield meeting with Burnley (for which Mane is suspended) crucial to their prospects.
See: How Kante lifted one manager nearly three million places
