Welcome back to the Hive FPL Cup.

Round 1 saw a number of high ranked teams in action and provided our first shock of the competition as Shamzy FC crashed out.

Top of both the Classic and H2H Division 1 leagues, while also being ranked amongst the top 10k worldwide, Shamzy FC were one of, if not the favourites to win the Hive FPL Cup.

Still, their loss is everyone else's gain with 6 more head to head matches to be won by our eventual champion starting with this week's fixtures.

Defending champions thoth442FC have gone through as have fellow Divsion 1 sides Nonz FC and Hungry Lions who beat Shamzy FC in a high scoring encounter. They are also joined by current Division 2 H2H leaders Skander TN in the 2nd round.

Not quite making it through to the next stage were BLAngechys Matildas - insert joke about Spurs never winning anything. While we also have to say goodbye to Yagman FC and Content Creators both of whom crashed out despite scoring 60+ in GW31. It'll only get tougher from here on out!

Round 1 results

Prizes for Round 1

We had 18 winners from the 36 matches in round 1 but only 17 of those teams have a Hive account linked to their FPL team. As such, I'll split the 10 Hive prize fund 17 ways meaning that rewards for the winners will be 0.588 Hive each.

This will be on the way to your wallet shortly.

Round 2 fixtures

With 32 matches taking place, Round 2 is almost as big as Round 1 was but it sees a lot more of the regular players with updated teams entering into the draw.

A couple of clashes to watch out for include Creekside FC vs I Feel Qatari. Both have been regulars in the Hive FPL with @deniskj winning the inugraul Hive classic league in 22/23. Things haven't gone quite as well so far this season for I Feel Qatari who currently sit in 33rd place in the classic league, over 100 points off the top 10 while in the H2H league they are knee deep in the relegation scrap in division 1.

Much like his beloved Manchester United, the cup then represents Denis' last chance at salvation this season but he's got his work cut out against a Creekside team who remain 2nd in the classic league despite not having made any changes to their squad for several weeks.

Another all Division 1 clash sees Nonz FC take on Izanagi FC. The 2 teams have just 18 points difference across 32 game weeks of play so expect that to be a close one.

The lowest ranked side left in the competition are Michupa Brasil F.C. (ranked 82nd) who take on 49th placed valchiz FC in the 2nd round. Another low ranked team in the form of Cygnus FC are up against Danny FC who hit 84 points in GW32, the 2nd highest score across the Hive leagues.

The only team to outscore Danny FC last week were Samostically who record 88 points. They play their round 2 game against the last remaining side without a Hive account linked to their team, KingDavid.

At the other end of the scale, HighWay2Anfield had a disappointing GW32 and were fortunate to have gotten a bye through to this round. They'll need to pick up their performance against Lazz who are fighting for a top 10 finish in the classic league as well as a good cup run over these last 7 remaining weeks of the 23/24 season.

Good Luck to everyone in their quest to make it through to round 3 (last 32).