Group Game 5 (Fri 4th April) - Build up

[harry51]

Group A
WBA U23 - Brighton U23
Fulham U23 - Leicester City U23

Group B
Newcastle Utd U23 - Chelsea U23
Arsenal U23 - Crystal Palace U23

Group C
Derby U23 - Burnley U23
Man City U23 - Wolves U23

Group D
Liverpool U23 - Man Utd U23
Tottenham H U23 - QPR U23

Group E
Southampton U23 - Aston Villa U23
Everton U23 - Brentford U23

Group F
Leeds Utd U23 - West Ham Utd U23
Sheffield Utd U23 - Bournemouth U23

Sheets by 8 PM UK Time

[stocko74]

Everton U23 - Brentford U23

off the liverpool we go to face the blue half i will rotate my team give everyone a chance that they deserve to play for us

[Darlington]

Everton U23 v Brentford U23

Two games left in the League Cup and we are second and may well struggle to topple Villa at the top who beat us. In case we can't we really need to win this game to ensure we are in second and a slim chance of qualification. Lose and we let Brentford in with a shout to get second.
Brentford have a stronger midfield than ourselves so we need to be careful of this if we want to hold them off.
We have a full squad with no injuries or suspensions but will rotate in certain areas.

[Matt]

Sheffield Utd U23 - Bournemouth U23

Great win last time out to move clear at the top of the group now we need to follow that up with n away tie to Sheffield Utd. Day returns to the starting lineup bt with 2 red cards already he is already on a tightrope for the season, Tiago_Coser is the one who will sit out on fitness grounds but this is just part of the usual rotation game.

[Nocky]

Southampton U23 vs Aston Villa U23

I misread the qualification for this competition completely as the regulations seem misleading:

The top two from each group will qualify for the quarter finals along with the two best runners up.

It's not the top two that are through, it's the top one and the best runners up (@Darlington just a tweak to wording needed). That changes our approach to this game massively!

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Pl   Team                      P    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1    Aston_Villa_U23           4    3   1   0    15    2   13    10
2    Everton_U23               4    3   0   1    14    5    9     9
3    Brentford_U23             4    1   1   2     3    8   -5     4
4    Southampton_U23           4    0   0   4     3   20  -17     0

If it were top two we'd be virtually there but as it is we need to make sure we're finishing top. Working out what would be needed to be a best second place is a bit too tricky currently. Although the table currently looks like this:

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Pl   Team                      P    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1    Everton_U23               4    3   0   1    14    5    9     9
2    Arsenal_U23               4    2   1   1     9    8    1     7
-------------------------------------------------------------------
3    West_Ham_United_U23       4    2   1   1     5    6   -1     7
4    Derby_County_U23          4    2   0   2     5    4    1     6
5    Manchester_United_U23     4    2   0   2     2    7   -5     6
6    West_Bromwich_U23         4    1   2   1     3    3    0     5

So ten points maybe enough for a top runner up spot and 13 almost certainly would be if it came to it. But winning the group would be far more preferable and we can do that is we win today and Everton fail to do so. even if the Toffees do win, victory would almost certainly see us through anyway.

Southampton are bottom and haven't won with just three goals for and 20 against. We beat them 9-1 at our place in the first game so we'll definitely be favourites but football is a funny game and has a habit of turning things around fast.

I was all set to rotate in this one but we won't be now - it'll be the strongest side to seal the points. We have a full squad to pick from and hopefully we will have enough to make it through.

[Nocky]

Man City U23 vs Wolverhampton Wanderers U23

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Pl   Team                      P    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1    Wolverhampton_U23         4    3   1   0    10    2    8    10
2    Derby_County_U23          4    2   0   2     5    4    1     6
3    Manchester_City_U23       4    1   1   2     4   11   -7     4
4    Burnley_U23               4    0   2   2     4    6   -2     2

Like Villa we were confused about the state of play but Wolves have a better advantage being four points ahead of second place which means a win will definitely see us qualify today. even a draw will be enough if Derby fail to win whilst, with our GD, a defeat will do if Derby loase as well.

But, we lost at the weekend and we want to make sure we bounce straight back and return to winning ways. So we will be making sure it's a strong side as we look for the win.

We are at full strength and will just be rotating for fitness. Gidaree and Benjamin may have played their last games for us as they are now unlikely to feature in this one. Hopefully we can get things tied up in this round and rest more players for the final one