Arsenal’s u23s face Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium on Friday in the final game of their Premier League 2 campaign, with a spot in the top two up for grabs.
Arsenal have had a bit of a mixed u23 campaign this season, but they’re certainly finishing it strongly. Freddie Ljungberg’s side are unbeaten in eight, winning five of those matches and the last three in a row.
As a result, though they’ve already missed out on the title to Everton, Arsenal are only one point behind Brighton in second place, with one game left. The Gunners are currently fourth, with Liverpool also ahead of them on goal difference, but they can’t fall any lower, as fifth-place Derby County are four points behind.
For their final game, Arsenal face Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium. It’s likely to be streamed online, but the club haven’t confirmed as much yet. To ensure you can watch the match, you’ll have to head on down to the ground, with tickets available now.
Team news
It’s pretty likely Eddie Nketiah and Joe Willock will be excluded from this one, as Unai Emery gave them both spots in the first-team squad on Wednesday. With another game on Sunday, he won’t want them to make themselves unavailable by playing against Leicester’s u23s.
Deyan Iliev is still seemingly out with injury, so Arthur Okonkwo will take his place in goal. The 17-year-old has two clean sheets in his first three games for the side.
The other potential factor is that the Arsenal u18s have a crucial match against Fulham the next day, where a win means finishing top of the U18 PL south division. Bukayo Saka, Xavier Amaechi and Tyreece John-Jules are all eligible to feature in that match.
It’s unlikely the trio will start for the u18s though, as the young side already has in-form players like Sam Greenwood, Trae Coyle and Folarin Balogun to play in the front three.
The u23 trio are more likely to take the bench against Fulham, as Amaechi and Saka did for the last u18 game against Spurs. As a result, we predict they’ll start against Leicester and come off early, so they’ll be available to make a late impact the next day if the u18s need them.
Predicted Starting XI
