There’s a mouthwatering clash at Motspur Park on Monday evening as the top two sides in PL2 meet, with Fulham Under-21s taking on Manchester City U21s, 7pm kick-off.
The state of play
In what is both side’s penultimate match of the regular season, a win for Hayden Mullins’ lads would see us rise to the top of the table with just one match to play, while a victory for City would see them finish as PL2 League Phase winners and head into the Play-Offs as top seed.
While finishing top of the table doesn’t get you silverware - with the new Play-Off system implemented last season - both teams will want to prove that they’ve been the best U21s side in the country over a 20-match period, so Monday’s game certainly has plenty resting on it.
Whatever the results across the next two matches, our Young Whites are guaranteed a top two finish, which marks improvement on last season, when Mullins’ side finished third on 38 points.
The opposition
Ben Wilkinson’s side have topped the table since October. Since losing at Liverpool on the opening day of the season, City have won 14 out of 17 matches.
The most potent attack and the tightest defence in the division is a good recipe for success, although they do come into Monday’s fixture off the back of a shock 3-2 defeat at home to Crystal Palace, in which City found themselves 2-0 ahead at the interval.
With an incredible 12 goal contributions in his last six U21s appearances, our defenders will have to keep an eye on striker Divin Mubama. Signed from West Ham last summer, Mubama is a name Fulham fans may recognise, featuring at the Cottage last season for the Hammers’ first team, making 18 senior appearances in total.
February’s PL2 Player of the Month was handed his senior City debut in the FA Cup Third Round earlier this year, finding the back of the net in an 8-0 thrashing of Salford City. Also in the City side that day was defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, who has made six senior appearances this term, while also being a regular in the U21s side.
Coverage
Due to this game clashing with a televised Premier League fixture, we are unable to show the match live.
@FulhamAcademy on X is the place to keep updated with the action from Motspur Park. Reaction and highlights will follow on our website.
