United are in an excellent position going into our final group-stage game in late January, at Oldham Athletic. With nine points from three games, Binnion’s charges know a good result at Boundary Park will seal passage into the knockout stages.
SPARTA PRAGUE UP NEXT
The variety of the Academy’s games programme is shown in full this December, as the Professional Development Phase (U17-U21) compete in all of the U18 Premier League, Premier League 2, UEFA Youth League, National League Cup and Premier League International Cup within a fortnight.
Up next for our U21s is a test against Czech side Sparta Prague in the latter competition. United have drawn both prior games, against Hertha Berlin and PSV Eindhoven, and so probably require victories from the remaining two games to finish in the top two of the eight-team Group C.
Saturday lunchtime’s (12:00 GMT) game will be played at Carrington, with no other suitable venues available on the date. Unfortunately, the game cannot be shown live on MUTV as it’s a Premier League-affiliated competition and there is a senior Premier League fixture at the same time.