The top five in Round 26 all played against the current, backing underdogs in the majority of fixtures. Surprisingly, the risks paid off and all scored over 600 points.

The quintet's winning predictions included relegation-threatened Bologna's 3-0 win over a Sampdoria team who had beaten the Milanese giants in their previous two outings (72 points); the Universitario Sucre-La Paz stalemate (82 points); and the Madrid Derby draw (82 points).

With 723 points, MHPB1964 was the eventual winner. The Uruguayan correctly predicted nine of the ten fixtures, six of which were outright long-shots. Runner-up guklein misstepped at the crucial moment by backing draws in the featured J.League and Bundesliga matches.

Third-placed xenienze was disarmed in Denmark. Had the Bolivian backed a Midtjylland-Brondby draw, he would have shared top spot. Fourth-placed hummelbirgit shared that Danish disappointment. The German also failed to back favourites Deportivo Quito and Kashima Antlers in their respective home games.

Fifth place was shared by chivisisima and posvale. The Mexican and Spanish predictors played identical rounds, even scoring bonus points on the same match.

Open season on Saururrex
For the third consecutive week, the top three remain unchanged. Saururrex will be the least happy: the leader scored a paltry 116 points this round, his worst return since Round 8. Second-placed AGUEVO had an impressive Round 26 (387 points), slicing his Mexican rival's lead to 235 points.

Third-placed Zizo10 gained over 100 points on the leader. The Jordanian is within snipping distance of first and has 11 rounds left to make up the 546-point deficit.

The leading performer from this week's top ten was OARCHILA. The Colombian scored 546 points to climb from 13th to fourth. His giant return puts him within five points of Zizo10.

With 11 Rounds left there will be no rest for top predictors, who now sit uncomfortably close to one another. Will Round 27's matches bring more surprises, or will favourites fire on all cylinders? Here are the fixtures;

ROUND 27 (14 & 15 March)
Paris Saint-Germain-Marseille (France)
Manchester United-Liverpool (England)
Hertha Berlin-Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
Kaizer Chiefs-Bidvest Wits (South Africa)
Montedio Yamagata-Nagoya Grampus (Japan)
Guadalajara-Atlas (Mexico)
Espanyol-Mallorca (Spain)
Inter Milan-Fiorentina (Italy)
Boca Juniors-Argentinos Juniors (Argentina)
Colo Colo-Universidad Católica (Chile)