Arsenal in FA Youth Cup Final

Arsenal’s youth team face Liverpool tonight in the 1^st leg of the FA Youth Cup at the Emirates.  Arsenal won their Academy division and then went on to win the Academy title beating Manchester City in the semi-final and arch-rivals Tottenham in the final at White Hart Lane 1-0, thanks to a goal from Rhys Murphy.

 

Tonight’s game will be played in front of a large crowd and is also live on Setanta Sports.

 Arsenal welcome back Henri Lansbury after a successful loan spell at Scunthorpe United.  The experience he gained at Scunthorpe will help Lansbury both tonight and next season. Lansbury appeared 16 times and scored four goals, his appearances included a Wembley final, when Scunthorpe lost 3-2 to Luton Town in the Jonhstone Paints trophy.

 Jack Wilshere should also be available following a not very successful European under-17 tournament for England.  Wilshere has made 8 appearances for the first team and scored his first senior goal in the Carling

 Emmanuel Frimpong, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Francis Coquelin were all on the bench for the Premier League game against Portsmouth.  Not far behind these players are striker Gilles Sunu centre back Kyle Bartley. These seven boys are very close to first team football.

 “Jack Wilshere is already with us in the first team but there are plenty of players in there who could very quickly be in our first-team squad,” Wenger said.

 “I have seen this team a few times and I like not only their quality but their attitude as well.

 “There is something in there that shows they have personality and not only talent. I believe they will win.

 “They are still a bit young but not for one player could you say ‘you will not make a career’.”

 The Arsenal FA Youth cup team have scored 19 goals whilst conceding six. Let’s hope tonight sees them take a giant step towards the pinnacle of youth football