With the headlining clash between the red rivals of Man United and Liverpool seeing both star casts cancel each other out, managers of the PPP/CTN Fantasy League found rich rewards in picking from less glorified sources.

None more so than gameweek 8 MVP Anthony Pilkington of Norwich, who’s brace from midfield helped his side overcome fellow league newcomers Swansea and earn himself 15 fantasy points in the bargain.

Bolton midfielder Chris Eagles, meanwhile, saw his goal and assist convert to 13 points.

While no fantasy team took maximum advantage by choosing Pilkington as their captain, plenty including our weekly winner doubled up on Robin van Persie’s contribution of 12 points. The Arsenal striker saved the day with his double against Sunderland.

The Cellcard sponsored prize of either an internet dongle or US$20 phone voucher and T-shirt goes to Henry Verey with his team VoxClamantis. Henry’s tally of 78 points was a full nine points clear of the nearest rival and took a poetic rise to the top of the leaderboard with an overall total of 503.

The VoxClamantis squad was well versed with the likes of Van Persie as skipper, and other elite choices of Stoke’s Jonathon Walters (11) and West Brom keeper Ben Foster (9).     

Gameweek 9 is another straight up two-day weekender with only one fixture on the tip of every pundit’s tongue – the Manchester derby. Make sure you get those transfers done by the usual 5:30pm Saturday, but not before the injury tolls of midweek European campaigns have been made known.