I agree about the randomness of the round, I even had to think a bit before making my picks. With the return of club football, the thrill is back, too - I’ve made a couple of risky picks, plus one that definitely won’t please
buwaytress if it comes off

I still can't get used to the fact that we don't have the usual teams like Atlético or Villarreal in the opening rounds, let alone Bayern.
I can only salute your daring, and rue my own misplaced belief in my team. Iraola was without some important personnel and he might take some small comfort that we were doing well until the sending off, but he should know better against Haaland and co.
Agree on Villareal and Atleti -- especially since the latter was a source of points last season but I have a feeling they might pull off some magic vs United (and my yet-to-be-placed bets are on them too!).
There’s a touch of bitterness, since that daring earned me just 10 points (thanks to leaky Fulham) and 10th place for the time being.
And in fact, I was not greedy enough where I should have been, instead of making a normal cash bet, I made a cautious one.
A simple bet on City with a -1 handicap would probably have offered better odds.
I agree about Atlético and United, unfortunately, that is the status quo right now. I don't think any miracles will be needed for a win, but I'm hoping for at least a draw. I remember in the first rounds I wrote that United was one and a half times stronger than Liverpool (based on the number of points), well now the situation has turned symmetrically
