Match preview: Under-18s v Reading
Posted by Jeorge Bird on March 14, 2008
MATCH BACKGROUND
Arsenal u-18s travel to face Reading tomorrow as the season draws to a close. The youngsters got back to winning ways last week with a 1-0 victory over Charlton, thanks to a thunderous Emmanuel Frimpong strike. You can watch highlights of that game on Arsenal TV online.
THE TABLE
| P | W | D | L | For | Agt | GD | Pts | ||
| 1 | West Ham United U18 | 24 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 54 | 34 | +20 | 45 |
| 2 | Fulham U18 | 23 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 33 | 23 | +10 | 42 |
| 3 | Arsenal U18 | 21 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 59 | 29 | +30 | 40 |
| 4 | Southampton U18 | 24 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 39 | 45 | -6 | 40 |
| 5 | Portsmouth U18 | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 31 | 32 | -1 | 37 |
| 6 | Crystal Palace U18 | 23 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 48 | 38 | +10 | 34 |
| 7 | Chelsea U18 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 41 | 35 | +6 | 31 |
| 8 | Ipswich Town U18 | 24 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 33 | 37 | -4 | 31 |
| 9 | Charlton Athletic U18 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 38 | 44 | -6 | 27 |
| 10 | Norwich City U18 | 23 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 37 | 48 | -11 | 21 |
| 11 | Millwall U18 | 23 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 25 | 53 | -28 | 13 |
Arsenal are closing in on the top two, but need to win their games in hand
THE FIXTURES
| Results 08.03.08 | Fixtures 15.03.08 |
| Arsenal 1 Charlton Athletic 0 | Bristol City v West Ham United |
| Crystal Palace 0 Fulham 2 | Cardiff City v Portsmouth |
| Leicester City 5 Norwich City 5 | Charlton Athletic v Tottenham Hotspur |
| Millwall 0 Ipswich Town 2 | Chelsea v Watford |
| Portsmouth v Chelsea – Postponed | Coventry City v Millwall |
| Fulham v Aston Villa | |
| Ipswich Town v Birmingham City | |
| Reading v Arsenal (11.00am) | |
| Southampton v Milton Keynes Dons |
To further underline the importance of this game, West Ham and Fulham, the two sides above the Gunners in the table are also in action tomorrow.
THE TEAM
Kyle Bartley serves the final game of his three-match ban, whilst Henri Lansbury (glandular fever) is still out. Sanchez Watt is close to a return but may not be risked. Steve Bould experimented with a 4-2-3-1 formation in the first half of last week’s game against Charlton, but it didn’t really work out. He could revert to 4-4-2 with Jonas Rasmussen coming in on the right hand side and Luke Freeman dropping to the bench.
Predcited XI
———–Szczesny———
–Blackwood–Ayling—-Thomas—-Evina
-Rasmussen—Eastmond—-Frimpong—-Wilshere
———Sunu———-Murphy
subs: Shea, Freeman, Barazite, Fonte, Steer
