Everything you need to know about the ePremier League

The FIFA 19 tournament will see all Premier League teams compete in the football game to claim an overall champion.

Late last year, EA Sports announced that it had partnered with the Premier League to form a virtual version of the league for the first time.

The groundbreaking announcement could revolutionise not just FIFA 19 esports but the esports scene in the UK too.

You will not want to miss this revolutionary event, so Goal has compiled everything you need to know about the ePremier League.

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What is the ePremier League and when is it?
The ePremier League is a FIFA 19 tournament which will see all 20 Premier League clubs represented by two FIFA players. Every team will have one representative on Xbox One and another on PlayStation 4 - both of whom were decided by a set of online and live qualifiers.

During January, players of all skill levels competed online to decide the top 16 players on each console of every club. Those 32 players from each team then proceeded to attend the club playoffs in February and March to decide the final Xbox and PlayStation representatives.

The two players of all 20 clubs will now compete in the ePremier League finals live on Sky Sports and online on the Premier League channels on March 28 and 29. Every match will be over two legs and will take place in a group stage format over those two days to decide an eventual PlayStation and Xbox champion. Those two winners will then face each other in a two-leg match, one leg on each console, to decide an overall champion.

What does the winner receive?
FIFA 19

Unlike most FIFA tournaments, the ePremier League will not offer a prize pool for the participants. However, the winners will receive FIFA Global Series points which add to a large, global league table which decides who will qualify for the biggest FIFA tournament of the year - the FIFA eWorld Cup.

And of course, with this tournament being broadcast on TV with a larger than usual appeal to a mainstream audience, this tournament is an excellent branding opportunity for professional and aspiring professional FIFA players in attendance.

What are the rules of the ePremier League?
A unique factor of the ePremier League is that it will impose squad restrictions on all players at the live events. Usually at FIFA tournaments, all players are given an "unlocked" Ultimate Team account with every single player and card at their disposal.

But, in the ePremier League all participants will only be allowed to use Premier League players in their FUT squads. That means no Icons, no Cristiano Ronaldo, no Lionel Messi and just a handful of Team of the Year cards. However, participants do not have to use any players from the team they are representing - leaving everyone on an even playing field.

Who are the favourites and the dark horses?
F2Tekkz March Cup

The clear favourite to lift the ePremier League trophy will be lifelong Liverpool fan Donovan 'F2Tekkz' Hunt who is undoubtedly the best player in the world. The 17-year-old has won three of the five FUT Champions Cups this season and is miles ahead of everybody in the FIFA Global Series Rankings.


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Chelsea also appear to have a good chance with two professional players in their ranks: Hashtag United's Ryan Pessoa and Team Envy's Jas 'Jas1875' Singh. There are unsurprisingly quite a few pro players in attendance, including life-long Arsenal fan and now Gunners representative Tassal 'Tass' Rushan and Huddersfield representative Thomas Painter from Rebel FC.

West Ham United, Wolves and Manchester City were the only Premier League teams who already had esport divisions and they all have some of their own players representing them at the ePremier League with Jamie 'Jamboo' Rigden, Torin 'TheTurin27' Paige and Kai 'Deto' Woolin. Serie A club AS Roma, partnered with esport organisation Fnatic, has allowed their players to compete for other teams in the ePremier League and as a result, Simon 'Zimme' Nystedt will represent Tottenham Hotspur and Damian 'Damie' Augustyniak will compete for Crystal Palace.

Another club who deserves a shout out is Brighton Hove Albion, who are sending two lifelong season-ticket holders of the Seagulls and you can be sure that both will desperate to help their club win a virtual version of the Premier League.