Paris Saint-Germain Espoirs v West Ham United U21s
Friendly, PSG Campus, Wednesday 16 April 2025, 11.30am BST
West Ham United U21s continue their build-up to the Premier League 2 play-offs with a trip to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday morning, to face their newly-formed Espoirs team.
The match will be an opportunity for Mark Robson's side to maintain their match sharpness against elite opposition as they build up to the Premier League 2 play-offs later this month.
The young Hammers placed fourth in the Premier League 2 regular season, meaning they will face 13th place, which could be either Everton or Sunderland depending on the result of Liverpool's away clash at Aston Villa on Friday 18 April.
How To Follow...
The game will be blogged live on the Club's official website and app, while a live stream of the fixture will be available on the Club’s YouTube channel.
A match report, highlights and reaction will also follow the full-time whistle.
Tickets...
The game at PSG Campus will be open to the public on pitch six. Tickets can be downloaded for free on PSG's ticketing website.
Opposition...
Although Paris Saint-Germain’s newly-formed Espoirs squad is technically an U23s team, it is mainly comprised of players from their U19s 2023/24 French championship title-winning team.
PSG U19s won their regional northern league before beating Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique Marseilles and AJ Auxerre by a combined scoreline of 10-1 en route to becoming national champions.
Formed in October 2024, their new Espoirs team is aimed at helping the transition between youth and senior football, while maximising game time for its young players who also compete in the UEFA Youth League and Championnat National with the U19s.
Ones To Watch…
With seven goal involvements in his last six games for West Ham's U21s, Lewis Orford is hitting a hot streak of form at just the right time for the development side. A season which has seen him make his senior debut for West Ham, Orford has co-captained the development side this year alongside FA Youth Cup winning teammate Kaelan Casey.
His excellent passing range was on full show in the U21s' last game, when he picked out Kamarai Swyer from the halfway line with a sweet volleyed pass to help level the scores at the Riverside Stadium against Middlesbrough.
An outrageous pass from Orford. Swyer making sure it counted 🎯 pic.twitter.com/o2sn26jTFn
— West Ham United (@WestHam) April 11, 2025
Described as an intelligent and technical winger, Ibrahim Mbaye was named 2024 Titi d’Or, an award presented to PSG's best young player, an accolade won by our very own Alphonse Areola in 2009.
Joining the academy at ten years old, Mbaye was already playing for the U19s at 15, winning the French championship last season. This campaign, the 17-year-old has pushed on once again, making his Ligue 1 debut and scoring in a 6-1 win over ten-time French champions Saint Étienne, all while representing PSG at youth level.
However, the Espoirs could be without their star player should Luis Enrique decide to include Mbaye in his UEFA Champions League matchday squad at Aston Villa on Tuesday night, as he has done for the previous three knockout games.
The Story So Far…
An excellent run of form in January and February, which saw the young Hammers win seven games in a row, secured West Ham a PL2 play-off berth for the second successive year, with four games to spare.
Chelsea’s 4-2 win away at Crystal Palace on the final day saw the Blues leapfrog West Ham into third place. The young Hammers therefore qualify for the post-season play-offs as the fourth seed, meaning they will play the Round of 16 at home, the quarter and semi-finals away, and the final at home should they qualify.
