By Matt Aldridge
THE STORY SO FAR
Our under-18s will be hoping to stretch their unbeaten run and reach the FA Youth Cup quarter-finals when they travel to Middlesbrough on Friday.
Kwame Ampadu’s side haven’t tasted defeat in 10 games, in a run that stretches back to early November.
In our previous Youth Cup outing, we came from behind to beat Liverpool 3-2 at Anfield, with Tyreece John-Jules scoring the winning goal in front of the Kop.
THE OPPOSITION
Sat in eight place in the league, Boro haven’t really been able to get their season up and running, but have found success in the Youth Cup.
Having seen off Bolton and Stevanage so far, some will see this Friday’s tie as a step up in opposition for the hosts.
Middlesbrough were 3-1 winners in their previous match, a league encounter against Blackburn Rovers, with goals from Layton Watts and Stephen Walker sealing victory.
ONE TO WATCH
With seven goals in 15 games so far this season for Ampadu’s side, Bukayo Saka has been one of our most consistent performers, and vital in recent weeks.
Against Liverpool, it was his run and fantastic finish which drew us level late on, and then his assist which set up John-Jules’ winner.
In the Premier League Cup against Norwich City, Saka struck in the dying seconds of the game to send us to penalties in a tie we eventually prevailed in.
LAST TIME WE MET
Boro were 2-1 winners at London Colney the last time we faced each other, with goals from Mitchell Curry and Marcus Tavernier cancelling out Yassin Fortune’s opener. Although Eddie Nketiah struck the woodwork, the visitors took all three points in a tight contest.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
We will be providing updates on our Twitter account - @Arsenal - and will post a match report on Arsenal.com after the full-time whistle.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
