Gameweek 2 of the Footy9 Championship season delivered a standout result that nobody saw coming in their selections. Norwich smashed Burnley 4-1 at Carrow Road, a scoreline that carries the maximum +8 Footy9 points for backers. Yet, remarkably, not a single one of the 31 Footy9 players fancied Norwich in their nine-team line-ups. This left the maximum +8 points sitting there for the taking, completely missed by all players.
Norwich had lost 3-0 away at Millwall in their previous league match, but turned things around in style with a 4-1 win at home. Burnley were also coming off a 3-1 defeat at West Brom after dropping down from the Premier League last season. They might have expected a better start back in the Championship, but the one player who backed them here got proper stung with the -5.
Historically, maximum +8 returns in the Championship are not common but not unheard of either. Last season saw 26 such returns from 644 analysed team results, about 4.5%. So far this season, there have been three maximum +8 returns in the Championship, but this Norwich win was the only one completely unbacked by any player.
The fact that none of the 31 players selected Norwich for this fixture is a striking oversight, especially given the nine-team selection format. It’s a reminder that even clear maximum +8 opportunities can slip through the cracks in Footy9.
