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Thursday night sees Manchester United and Manchester City face off in the FA Youth Cup final at the Joie Stadium.
The most historic youth footballing competition in the world, the FA Youth Cup, will crown a new champion on Thursday night in a mini-Manchester derby.
Manchester United face Manchester City, with the two sides battling at the City academy stadium, which caused plenty of controversy over how few could attend.
It is a blockbuster tie between the two sides that finished first and second in the U18 Premier League North this season. Darren Fletcher’s side will have taken inspiration from how United’s U21s beat City last week at the very same stadium.
United vs City is set for Thursday night, live on BBC and TNT Sports from the Joie Stadium in Manchester.
Here is everything you need to know ahead of the game.
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
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One of the best parts of this United side is the depth of quality available. Speaking in advance of the final, Fletcher has hailed his squad, naming over 20 talents who deserve plenty of praise.
However, as deep and quality as the United U18 squad is, there are plenty of frustrating absences from the cup final due to injuries.
Bendito Mantato is the main absentee for United, as his season ended months ago through an injury that keeps the academy graduate out even now.
Meanwhile, Kai Rooney is also out due to injury, as his season also unfortunately ended prematurely.
One concern is that United have been without Godwill Kukonki in either of the U21 or U18 games in recent weeks, meaning there is a chance he has also suffered an injury, given he isn’t with the first-team either.
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Fletcher has some big decisions to make for United on Thursday night regarding selection, and things like the U21 Premier League 2 final being played 48 hours later will play a role.
But assuming Fletcher has first pick, here is the line-up we expect him to name.
In goal, Cameron Byrne-Hughes is a certainty, having established himself as the most impressive goalkeeper in the academy ranks.
The backline will see Yuel Helafu at right-back, Dan Armer and Albert Mills at centre-back and then at left-back we will hopefully see Kukonki start.
Midfield is an interesting one, with Amir Ibragimov and Jay McEvoy more than deserving of a start, but we think Fletcher will stick with the team that got him here, and so Jim Thwaites and Rafe McCormack form the double pivot.
Moving into the attack, we expect Noah Ajayi on the left, JJ Gabriel in the 10, and Nathaniel-Junior Brown on the right. Then up front, assuming he is going to feature in both finals, Chido Obi starts, although it could just as easily be Louie Bradbury.
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