Right lads, pull up a chair. Round 5 is done and dusted, and we are down to the last three standing. Thirty five of ye walked into this thing back in October. Thirty two of ye are now watching from the stands with a bag of chips and a grudge.
And the one that went out this week? Oh, you are going to love this one.
The numbers
- Started with: 35
- Round 1: 10 gone
- Round 2: nobody gone (a miracle)
- Round 3: 13 gone (a massacre)
- Round 4: 8 gone
- Round 5: 1 gone
- Still standing: 3
- Prize still on the table: 200 HIVE + 5,000 MEDALS
💀 The fallen: @sb-deebrady
Hold on to your hats. Remember Round 1? Remember the lone wolf who looked at the whole fixture list and said "I'll have Man City. Away. At Anfield." and then watched them win 3 nil? The pick of the week by a country mile?
That was @sb-deebrady. A legend. A visionary. Feared nothing.
And how does the legend go out? A bad call? A brave punt that didn't come off?
No. Forgot to pick.
The system did what the rules say and handed over the first team left in the alphabet. That was Brentford. Away. At Brighton. Brighton 2 Brentford 0. Goodnight Vienna.
Survived four rounds on pure nerve and got taken out by the alphabet. I'd be raging. Respect though, it was a great run, and let it be a lesson to the rest of ye. Set a reminder on your phone.
But Dee is famous because she is the first user Sportsblock signed up as an onboarder. No hive experience. With an sb in front of her username she is genuine Sportsblock. Does this mean we are more successful than the Hive Rally Car?!?!?!
✅ The living
@friendlymoose and @jaki01: Liverpool
Both of them went to Selhurst Park with the Reds and both of them came home grand. Crystal Palace 1 Liverpool 3. No drama, no sweat, feet up by half time.
@jrmeski: Sunderland
Now THIS is the pick of the round. Sunderland. At home. To Chelsea. Most of us would need a lie down after even thinking about it.
Sunderland 1 Chelsea 0.
Absolute stones on this one. Take a bow @jrmeski.
The rest of the weekend, for the craic
- Everton 3 Coventry 1
- Leeds 1 Spurs 0
- Arsenal 1 Hull 0
- Fulham 1 Newcastle 1
- Nottingham Forest 3 Man City 1
- Ipswich 1 Bournemouth 2
- Man United 4 Aston Villa 4 (eight goals! anyone on either of those would have been out on a draw. Brutal.)
🔮 Round 6: here's where it gets spicy
The international break gives ye nearly two weeks to stew over this one. Here is the kicker though. The three of ye have burned through a lot of the big boys already. So here is who each of ye CANNOT pick this round.
@friendlymoose can't pick:
- Chelsea (home to Leeds)
- Aston Villa (home to Sunderland)
- Coventry (home to Palace)
- Arsenal (away at Newcastle)
- Liverpool (home to Man United)
@jaki01 can't pick:
- Chelsea (home to Leeds)
- Spurs (home to Ipswich)
- Arsenal (away at Newcastle)
- Brighton (away at Hull)
- Liverpool (home to Man United)
@jrmeski can't pick:
- Man City (home to Fulham)
- Arsenal (away at Newcastle)
- Liverpool (home to Man United)
- Brentford (home to Everton)
- Sunderland (away at Villa)
Blanchy's unqualified observations:
- Man City at home to Fulham is sitting there all shiny for @friendlymoose and @jaki01. @jrmeski has already used City, so it's a hunt elsewhere for that one. But sure City just lost 3 1 at Forest, so who knows anymore.
- Chelsea at home to Leeds would have been lovely. Two of ye already spent them. Typical.
- Arsenal and Liverpool are gone for ALL THREE of ye. The big guns are spent lads. It's slim pickings from here.
- @jaki01 has Villa at home to Sunderland available. @friendlymoose does not. Interesting.
Round 6 fixtures
Pick deadline: Saturday 21 November, 12:15pm Irish time. No pick and the alphabet picks for you. Ask @sb-deebrady how that goes.
Saturday 21 November
- Man City v Fulham, 12:30pm
- Aston Villa v Sunderland, 3pm
- Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest, 3pm
- Chelsea v Leeds, 3pm
- Coventry v Crystal Palace, 3pm
- Spurs v Ipswich, 3pm
- Newcastle v Arsenal, 5:30pm
Sunday 22 November
- Hull v Brighton, 2pm
- Liverpool v Man United, 4:30pm
Monday 23 November
- Brentford v Everton, 8pm
Three left. One crown. 200 HIVE and 5,000 MEDALS for whoever is still standing at the end.
Who blinks first?
Honorable mention to @dirtyleeds who beat Spurs well at the weekend. I think you were at it by all accounts no?
Pure Sports. Real Rewards. 👉 Make your Round 6 pick
Blanchy, still eliminated, still bitter
