I think the draw for the league seems pretty random. Last year my league was very hard, with 4-5 players 5stars or more. This year 7 of the teams are actually abandoned, and the rest aren't as good in quality as last year at all - and my team is better this year.

Now, whether you want to destroy your team every year to make the cup a cakewalk (another thing I think is against fairplay)....that's another matter. Average 4 -5 stars should keep you in the same cup level. I think it's better to keep going though, I managed a level 8 cup last year at 5. Not sure what level this one is but it's most level 7s and 8s....but I'm enjoying the challenge of beating out equal or better opposition.