The ePremier League is back for another edition, but as the years roll by, the stakes and the level of competition get higher. For the FIFA 23 season, UK-based pros will be donning the shirt of one of the Premier League’s 20 clubs, teaming up as duos, and will be looking to win a cut of the £100,000 prize pool.
There’s more than money on the line though when the 40 competitors meet at London’s Olympic Park this weekend, as the players on the two top teams from this year’s ePremier League will also earn themselves spots at the FIFA Global Series Playoffs, where they could go on to become this season’s world champion.
“For UK pros, this is the pinnacle of the year really,” says experienced FIFA pro Tom ‘Stokes’ Stokes, who will this year be representing Leeds United, at a pre-tournament media day. “You’re competing against everyone in your country, it’s a prestigious tournament, and also you gain access to the big tournaments down the line, so it means a lot. Everyone puts their all into it.”
For Manchester United’s Kyle ‘KBL99_’ Leese, there’s no better place for UK-based pros to “showcase their talent”.
As for who will be going all the way for the FIFA 23 edition of the ePL, the general favourite among this year’s group of players is certainly Liverpool.
With the experienced duo of Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt and Diogo ‘Diogo’ Mendes returning, a lot of pros see Liverpool as the biggest threat. However, the ePremier League isn’t completely immune to dark horse winners, as is pointed out by Everton’s Joseph ‘RoyalFunkyy’ Crown.
“As we’ve seen in the past with the ePremier League, people can come through and win that aren’t really expected to, so I don’t take too much notice [of potential favourite teams],” RoyalFunkyy says.
With last year’s tournament being won by Norwich City’s unexpected duo (half of which returns this year, with Jack ‘GoalPoacher’ Wignall representing West Ham), those are some wise words from RoyalFunkyy.
This weekend’s FIFA 23 ePremier League action kicks off on Saturday, March 25 at 5am PT/ 8am ET/ 12pm GMT with the group stage. The 20 teams are split into four groups, which you can find below, and the top two teams from each group will progress.
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| Crystal Palace | Liverpool | Leeds | Spurs |
| Brighton | Man City | Man United | Nottingham Forest |
| Aston Villa | Fulham | West Ham | Leicester |
| Southampton | Wolves | Newcastle | Bournemouth |
| Arsenal | Brentford | Chelsea | Everton |
Then on Sunday, March 26, the knockout stage will commence at 7am PT/ 10am ET/ 3pm BST. Quarter finals, semi finals, and the grand final will all take place on Sunday, and come the end of the day, one duo will walk away with a £30,000 cut of the prize pool.
You can watch the action on the official EA Sports FIFA Twitch channel, or on the Sky Sports YouTube channel.
