Exeter City v Arsenal under 21. FL Trophy 7pm (Sky Sports)

 

 

• Arsenal live on TV again on Tuesday
• The two teams that make Arsenal what it is today

By Tony Attwood

Under-21 teams are hard to judge sometimes, especially when a club like Arsenal is willing to promote players from the under-21s into the first team squad.   It’s great for us to watch, but it must annoy the under-21 manager like mad – although he will always say it shows what a great squad they have.

In the Premier League 2 Arsenal under 21s are 12th, and it is true, we might have hoped for more.  But in effect, what Arsenal are doing is taking the great players out of the squad and giving them experience of being with the first team, while some clubs leave their top young players in the under-21s with the hope of winning a trophy, and thus giving them publicity to attract more of the best youngsters from around their area.

Here’s the under 21 table:

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Manchester United U21	7	7	0	0	19	7	12	21
2	Ipswich Town U21	7	6	1	0	20	12	8	19
3	Chelsea U21	7	5	0	2	16	9	7	15
4	Tottenham Hotspur U21	7	5	0	2	20	14	6	15
5	Fulham U21	6	4	2	0	17	11	6	14
6	Southampton U21	7	4	2	1	17	13	4	14
7	Stoke City Under 21	7	4	2	1	14	10	4	14
8	Wolverhampton U21	6	4	1	1	14	10	4	13
9	Brighton & Hove Albion U21	7	3	2	2	16	9	7	11
10	West Ham United U21	7	3	2	2	14	11	3	11
11	Leicester City U21	7	3	2	2	18	16	2	11
12	Arsenal	7	3	2	2	12	11	1	11

 

In last season’s 20-match competition, Arsenal finished eighth, winning half of their games, drawing three and losing seven.  The goals were 44 for Arsenal and 38 conceded.

But it was interesting to see the teams above Arsenal.  Manchester City won the league as we might expect given their policies, but after that it was more of a surprise, with Fulham second, just two points behind, followed by Chelsea, West Ham, Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Southampton.   

Indeed, one might well wonder how a team that came seventh in that league, winning half their matches and drawing another four, could then finish bottom of the Premier League with just two wins out of 38 games all season.

The two squads are of course, completely different, but even so, a club that can attract that sort of player and have that level of training for its under-21s ought surely to be able to do more for its first team.

Incidentally, if you see any players tonight (remembering the match is on TV from 7pm) who have numbers on their shirts from 70 upwards, that means they are scholars.  However Max Down, who falls in this group, has number 56.

But now this is where the phrase thick and fast comes into overuse mode, since there is another match tomorrow.  This is the Carabao Cup game, also known as the League cup, which is against Brighton and Hove Albion at the Arsenal stadium, kick off at 7.45.  Obviously both clubs will be giving reserve players some chances, and we’ll come to that after tonight’s 21 game.

Brighton are some way below Arsenal in the league

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	9	7	1	1	16	3	13	22
13	Brighton and Hove Albion	9	3	3	3	14	15	-1	12

 

But of course league cup matches can be different.  Last season in the League Cup Brighton made it to the fourth round and a match against Liverpool…

 

Date	Match	ReS	Score	Round
27 Aug 2024	Brighton and Hove v Crawley Town	W	4-0	2nd round
18 Sep 2024	Brighton v Wolverhampton Wanderers	W	3-2	3rd round
30 Oct 2024	Brighton and Hove v Liverpool	L	2-3	4th round

 

Arsenal’s as usual, started in the 3rd round of the competition because of their European commitments

 

Date	Match	Res	Score	Round
25 Sep 2024	Arsenal v Bolton Wanderers	W	5-1	3rd round
30 Oct 2024	Preston North End v Arsenal	W	0-3	4th round
18 Dec 2024	Arsenal v Crystal Palace	W	3-2	5th round
07 Jan 2025	Arsenal v Newcastle United*	L	0-2	Semi-final: 1
05 Feb 2025	Newcastle United v Arsenal	L	2-0	Semi-final: 2

 

*This was the first game in English football to provide a referee with the facility to make in-stadium announcements to explain VAR decisions to the spectators. On this occasion, no explanations were made.