On Monday night Arsenal are fighting for a place in the final of the FA Youth Cup, facing Blackpool in the second-leg of their semi-final at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal have put together an impressive run so far. The highlight was probably beating Liverpool at Anfield, but hopefully the team can make more memories with a couple more wins to pick up the trophy now.

The match is being streamed live on Arsenal.com from 19:00, but if you haven’t been following the run so far, here’s the lowdown on some of the stars of the campaign, who could be making the step up to the next level at the club very soon:

2Tyreece John-Jules

Tyreece John-Jules
  • Age: 17
  • Position: Centre-forward

John-Jules started the season with the u18s, but he’s starting to make a name for himself in the u23s as well. As large part of that is thanks to his performances in the FA Youth Cup.

Undoubtedly, the young striker’s main attribute is his goal scoring.

He scored the winner in extra-time at Anfield to knock out Liverpool, then scored again in the next round as Arsenal beat Middlesbrough 3-2. He only missed out on the quarter-final thanks to a harsh red card in his previous league game. But he returned for the semis to score again in the first-leg.

John-Jules has been with the academy since the age of eight, and we recently spoke to him about his progression through the youth teams and taking inspiration from the likes of Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah this season.

With Nketiah getting first-team chances, and Chuba Akpom and Stephy Mavididi out on loan, these next few months could be the 17-year-old’s chance to prove he’s ready for the step up.

2017/18 stats

  • Premier League 2 (u23s): 7 appearances, 4 goals.
  • U18 Premier League: 6 appearances, 4 goals, 1 assist.
  • FA Youth Cup: 4 appearances, 3 goals.
  • Overall: 17 appearances, 11 goals, 1 assist.