As the Novel Coronavirus-led pandemic has affected numerous global events including UK’s major football league, the EPL, the authorities are turning to FIFA 20 to bring out the players on the field again. Confused? Well, the Premier League authorities are bringing some of the EPL stars head-to-head in FIFA 20 via the first-ever ePremier League tournament. The authorities announced the draw for the inaugural ePremier League invitational tournament via this tweet.
Now, this etournament is entirely invitational and the authorities invited players from different Premier League clubs to represent their own team in the tournament. However, there are not only players representing the clubs, but there are also fan celebrities who will be representing their favourite clubs.
For instance, popular singer-songwriter, Josh Franceschi, who is a die-hard Arsenal fan will be representing his favourite team. Manchester United also did not appoint any player of their own, but instead, they have drafted in musician and fan of the club, Josh Grennan, to take on arch-rival, Liverpools’ Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Now, the tournament has already started yesterday and the results of the first four “Round 1” matches have come in (picture below).
However, if you’re thinking that you have missed it, don’t worry. The ePremier League will continue throughout this week till April 25 and the semi-final and the final matches will be televised live on Sky Sports in the UK. You can check out the fixture below.
ePL Invitational draw
Round 1
21 April (from 12:00 BST)
1A John McGinn (AVL) v Neal Maupay (BHA)
1B Josh Franceschi (ARS) v Nathaniel Chalobah (WAT)
1C Dwight McNeil (BUR) v Ryan Fredericks (WHU)
1D Philip Billing (BOU) v Angus Gunn (SOU)
Last 16
22 April (from 12:00 BST)
2A Raheem Sterling (MCI) v Wilfried Zaha (CRY)
2B Tom Grennan (MUN) v Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV)
2C Reece James (CHE) v Andre Gomes (EVE)
2D Moussa Sissoko (TOT) v Christian Atsu (NEW)
23 April (from 12:00 BST)
2E Diogo Jota (WOL) v Wilfred Ndidi (LEI)
2F Todd Cantwell (NOR) v Lys Mousset (SHU)
2G Winner 1A v Winner 1D
2H Winner 1B v Winner 1C
Quarter-finals
24 April (from 12:00 BST)
QF1 Winner 2B v Winner 2D
QF2 Winner 2C v Winner 2A
QF3 Winner 2E v Winner 2F
QF4 Winner 2G v Winner 2H
Semi-finals/Final
25 April (from 15:00 BST)
SF1 Winner QF1 v Winner QF2
SF2 Winner QF3 v Winner QF4
Final
Winner SF1 v Winner SF2
The prize fund of the ePL will be donated to the #PlayersTogether initiative that is created by the Premier League players to generate funds for the National Health Service (NHS) to fight COVID-19. The tournament also aims to encourage people “to follow official advice by staying home and saving lives.”
Football fans from all over the world can stream the matches live on the official website and app of Premier League as well its YouTube channel, Facebook page and Twitter page. Apart from these, the YouTube and Twitch channels of Sky Sports and the Football Daily YouTube channel will also cover the matches.
So, what do you think? Can Trent Alexander-Arnold take Liverpool to the victory that they missed this year in the actual Premier League (although theoretically, they won)? Tune in to find out.
