''At last'' I picture you saying!
Back to normality so let the fun begin. Who wants to be crowned Champion at the end of the season?
Quick update on everything so we can always see these on the first page as a reminder.
Let's be perfectly clear should you wish to enter the competition, we are all on zero before a ball is kicked so, all is fair and square across the board. Please, no complaining if you feel something isn't working in your favour later on and others are benefitting from something, we all have the same chances as each other. Thank you for your understanding of this.
Predictions
1. You will be choosing from 10/10 fixtures like last season. This worked well and did create good movement in the table.
2. The fixtures will come from all four English divisions.
3. Weekends, Midweek, the FA Cup and EFL cup games will form the structure of the fixtures.
4. There will be a maximum of 5 draws allowed from your 10 predictions. If you want to gamble each week on 5 draws paying more points then go ahead but, that isn't always the case.
5. The Prediction League will run for a full 46 fixtures and not when the Premiership finishes.
6. Games will be chosen from any seven days of the week but mainly from Saturdays. The reason being, the EFL have already included 7 full Tuesday night league fixtures. If you add to this any postponed games from the weekend due to the weather or any other issues etc, then there is no way we can just run with Saturday fixtures only. Please be vigilant for any midweek games being posted.
7. Total Goal Tally. This will remain but, is reduced from last season's 10 points down to 5, (see explanation below, number 3).
The Scoring of Points:
1. Every fixture you get correct either Home or Away, is 1 point, unless you choose a fixture to be a draw, then you will receive 3 points for that. Predicting a fixture to be a draw is far harder than any home or away result so therefore is duly awarded the extra 2 points.
2. Get all 10/10 predictions correct and you will gain a further 10 bonus points. This is very hard to predict but, GristToTheMill showed us last season this was achievable so, I feel the bonus is warranted.
3. Total Goal tally - get the total number of goals scored correct, from all 10 fixtures only, and you will receive a further 5 points.
It was noted last season that some entrants were winning the extra 10 points for correctly predicting the correct goal tally score and beating others, who had submitted a full 10/10 predictions so, to share a good balance this is why it is now a maximum of 5 points.
4. Get all 10/10 fixtures and the total goals scored correct and you will win a further 30 points on top of your prediction score. This I feel may never be achieved throughout the season hence the large reward.
5. The Joker. One 'Joker' bet will be allowed per person for the season. Simply pick a week you wish to play your Joker and you double your points on that day only. Some may score loads of points while others may be glad they played their Joker that day, as they may well have scored very low.
This is a new added bonus which makes it more interesting. I will keep tabs on a weekly basis who has played their Joker and will look to keep others up to date who haven't so, they don't forget.
6. Highest scorer(s) on the day will receive an extra 5 bonus points. This is on predictions only and does not include the goal tally bonus.
Good luck to all who wish to enter
Your first set of fixtures:
Saturday 7th August
Blackburn Rovers v Swansea City
Cardiff City v Barnsley
Derby County v Huddersfield Town
Sheffield United v Birmingham City
Rotherham United v Plymouth Argyle
Sunderland v Wigan Athletic
Charlton Athletic v Sheffield Wednesday
Exeter City v Bradford City
Forest Green Rovers v Sutton United
Stevenage v Barrow
Goal Tally xx