Wolves U18 v Arsenal U18- Match preview

Arsenal under-18s travel to Wolves tomorrow looking for their second win of the season, after claiming three points against Everton last week. A Luke Freeman brace plus a Jay Thomas strike gave Arsenal a 3-1 victory and Steve Bould’s side will be buzzing going into tomorrrow’s fixture.

Luke Freeman, Emmanuel Frimpong, Sam Byles and Oliver Nicholas all pulled out of the FA International Tournament in mid-week and are representing Arsenal u-16s at the Zinedine Zidane tournament in France so are unavailable. Conor Henderson returns to the side and could be handed a starting berth, whilst Gilles Sunu and Francis Coquelin are likely to be absent because of their involvement in a French training camp at Clairefontaine this week.

Predicted team:

———————-Shea—————–

–Eastmond—–Bartley———Ayling—-Cruise

-Rasmussen—–Henderson—–Thomas (c)–Watt

————–Murphy——–Deacon——–

Wolves overcame MK Dons with a 2-1 victory last week so will be looking to keep their 100% record going.

Arsenal were one of four Group A sides who claimed maximum points on the opening weekend, with Norwich topping the table following their 5-2 demolition of Nottingham Forest. Charlton and Ipswich also enjoyed victories, whilst Chelsea were held to a 2-2 draw by Crewe.

The league leaders Norwich face a tough trip to Carrington to take on Man.Utd, whilst Chelsea face Newcastle.

Check back tomorrow to find out how the young Gunners got on.

Cannes Tournament: Arsenal U16S 1 P.S.G. U16S 0

A Luke Freeman strike gave Arsenal under-16s a 1-0 victory over P.S.G. in the opening game of the Zinedine Zidane tournament in Cannes.

After being held to a 2-2 draw by Everton last weekend, Gatting’s side were determined to get back to winning ways and with a victory now under their belt the Gunners will go into the next fixture against Nice with renewed confidence.

The final of the competition takes place on Sunday.

——————— Mann ———————

Byles ——- Nicholas ——- Frimpong ——- Brisnal

——————— Aneke ———————

——————– Özyakup ——————–

Meade ————————————– Freeman

————– Banton —- Afobe ————–

Line-up courtesy of ArsenalAcademy

Confusion over second goalscorer in Arsenal victory over Everton under-18s

Thomas (circled) celebrates- but did he get the final touch?

There has been some confusion this week as to who scored Arsenal under-18s second goal in the 3-1 victory over Everton last Saturday. Luke Freeman gave Arsenal the lead, but then a second goal came from a corner. Emmanuel Frimpong played a corner short and Sanchez Watt seemed to get a touch and at first glance it looked as if it was his goal. Having seen the goal again, it looks as if Jay Thomas got a touch with his head but there may have been a slight deflection off an Everton defender. Arsenal TV initially awarded the goal to Thomas but in their match report it was deemed an own goal. I was at the match but as I was standing quite a long way away from the goal it was difficult to make out who scored. James Shea even congratulated Sanchez Watt for the strike, whilst Jay Thomas didn’t celebrate with his team-mates after the ball hit the back of the net. If you were at the match and standing near the goal where the second goal was scored, then please leave a comment below citing who you think got the final touch.

Arsenal youngsters jet out for Cannes tournament

Several of Arsenal’s highly-regarded youngsters have flown out to Cannes for the Zinedine Zidane tournament. All eyes will be on Benik Afobe (above) who had a fantastic goalscoring record for the u-16s last season, whilst there are suggestions that Sam Byles, Oliver Nicholas, Luke Freeman and Emmanuel Frimpong have all made the trip, ruling them out of tomorrow’s u-18 trip to Wolves. New signing Oghuzan Ozyakup is also poised to feature.

The youngsters face PSG and Nice before the final on Sunday.

Predicted team:

——————— Mann ———————

Byles —- Nicholas — Miquel —- Brisnal

——————- Frimpong ——————

———- Aneke ———- Özyakup ———-

Banton ——————————- Freeman

——————— Afobe ———————

With thanks to: Arsenal-Academy.com