Liverpool U21s v West Ham United U21s
Premier League 2 Division 1, Liverpool Academy Ground, Saturday 22 April 2023, 2pm BST
West Ham United U21s' second Premier League 2 fixture of the week sees them travel to Liverpool on Saturday afternoon.
Mark Robson’s young side head into their final stretch of games in the 2022/23 campaign following a 3-3 draw against Crystal Palace on Monday lunchtime.
The development team have picked up 25 points from 23 matches played this season and occupy eleventh place in the 14-team league.
The Hammers lost the reverse fixture in October against Liverpool, with the Reds winning 3-0 at Rush Green Stadium.
How to Follow…
Fans will be able to follow all the action from Liverpool U21s v West Ham United U21s in our live blog at whufc.com, which will begin one hour before kick-off, at 1pm.
Highlights from the Premier League 2 game will also be made available after the match at whufc.com and on the YouTube channel shortly after, as will exclusive reaction from the fixture.
Team News…
Lead coach Mark Robson will be able to call upon a strong squad, although West Ham United U18s do have a FA Youth Cup Final at Emirates Stadium to look forward to on Tuesday night.
As such, the likes of Divin Mubama, Regan Clayton, Ollie Scarles, Kaelan Casey, Lewis Orford and Gideon Kodua, who all featured in West Ham United’s FA Youth Cup semi-final 6-1 win over Southampton on Thursday 6 April, may see their minutes at U21 level taken into consideration ahead of the much-anticipated tie against Arsenal U18s.
With Junior Robinson and Michael Forbes recently unavailable due to injury, Dan Chesters has performed well at right wing-back and will be looking to continue a string of impressive performances in this role.
Opposition…
A tough duo of fixtures sees West Ham United take on another member of the Premier League 2 top five following a 3-3 draw with Crystal Palace on Monday afternoon.
Saturday’s opponents, Liverpool, sit fifth in the league table as it stands, with ten wins from their first 23 fixtures of the 2022/23 campaign.
Indeed, the Reds have lost just one of their last five league matches but will hope to avoid a run of three straight PL2 draws, as they seek a league double over the Irons following a 3-0 win at Rush Green training ground in October last year.
Defensively sound this season, Liverpool will be a difficult side to breach. The Reds have conceded just 29 goals – only leaders Manchester City (28) have conceded fewer goals than Liverpool in 2022/23. A repeat of a six-goal thriller from Monday night seems unlikely then.
Leading the attack has been forward Layton Stewart, who has eleven goals to his name in 2022/23, and has made an impressive return from a knee injury over the past year or so. Only five players – Divin Mubama being one – have scored more PL2 goals than the striker, who joined Liverpool’s Academy aged seven.
