Despite the World Cup in Qatar taking place, the Manchester United under-21s are in action tonight as they take on Wolves under-21s at Molineux tonight in the Papa John’s trophy.
After a successful group stage campaign that saw United finish top of their group that contained senior sides Barrow, Fleetwood and Carlisle, the Reds will now play a second round game against Wolves, which kicks-off at 7pm UK time tonight.
The game against Wolves should be a challenging one, however, the youngsters can draw upon their experiences this season, against Wolves and the Papa John’s trophy where they have competed well against senior professionals.
United and Wolves have met this season in the league, with United coming out on top with a 3-2 win over tonight’s opponents at Carrington.
The under-21s had to do it the hard way as Mark Dempsey’s side secured a comeback win with goals from Joe Hugill and Shola Shoretire, before a late winner from Marc Jurado ensured that it was United who were victorious in the pulsating under-21 clash.
Shola Shoretire’s goal vs Wolves U21s pic.twitter.com/pBd23ogUp9
— academyarena Utd (@academyarenaUTD) October 23, 2022
Shoretire, who was nominated for the Premier League 2 Player of the Month for October [manutd.com] scored an equaliser in United’s 2-2 draw against Fleetwood, which was the Young Reds’ last game in the Papa John’s trophy. Charlie McNeill put United 1-0 up with a panenka penalty in the game against The Cods. United will be hoping that the McNeill and Shoretire can produce the goods tonight as United look to overcome James Collins’ side.
Shola Shoretire in his last 4 games for the Manchester United U21s:
⚽ vs. Blackburn U21
⚽⚽ vs. Chelsea U21
🅰️🅰️🅰️ vs. Brighton U21
⚽ vs. Fleetwood TownOn Fire. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/yNGolKwLdN
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) October 18, 2022
United will be hoping for a repeat of the same outcome, as they aim to make it to the third-round, where ties are scheduled to take place on Wednesday 14 December.
The game must be concluded tonight, so if both teams cannot be separated after 90 minutes, then there will be penalties to decide the winner.