Premier League 2 Explained…
To minimise the impact of relegation on future groups of U21 players, the Premier League introduced a new format to its development phase competition in 2023/24.
Replacing the two-division system, the 29 Category One academies now compete in a single tier with 20 regular season fixtures before the top 16 seeded teams advance to single-elimination play-offs.
Regular season fixtures are determined by a draw made according to clubs’ performances over the last three seasons. Each team plays 20 different opponents before the play-offs in April and May, where they will be drawn against each other based on league positions, with the higher seeded team playing at home. The top 16 are also rewarded with a place in the following season’s Premier League International Cup competition.
New for this season, the eight clubs finishing between 17th and 24th will enter a cross-category play-off competition alongside the top eight teams from the Professional Development League (Category Two). This competition will also feature a knockout format, starting with a round of 16.
Opposition…
At this stage last season, Liverpool U21s had already won six league games and looked firmly on course to securing a comfortable play-off spot.
However, one win in their next eleven saw them take their qualification to the Premier League 2 knockout stages to the final game, in a winner-takes-the-final-play-off-spot game against Leeds United. Despite going behind, Liverpool battled to a point which secured them a round of 16 meeting against eventual champions Manchester City.
The young Citizens scraped through in extra-time despite trailing, thanks to a brace from West Ham Academy graduate Divin Mubama. Liverpool had also suffered the same fate the season before, knocked out by eventual champions Tottenham Hotspur on penalties at the quarter-final stage.
With last season’s standout players, including Rio Ngumoha, Trey Nyoni and even captain and former West Ham Academy defender Amara Nallo, being frequently called up to the first-team squad, the young Reds have been struggling for consistency in the league and cup competitions during 2025/26.
However, their last two games have seen them score eight goals and move within a point of the Premier League 2 play-off places. A victory on Friday evening would see them leapfrog our young Hammers in the table.
Previous Meeting...
Our U21s were held to a 1-1 draw the last time the two sides faced each other, earlier this year at Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre, which brought to an end an incredible run of seven consecutive league wins for our young Hammers.
Two rather bizarre own-goals cancelled each other out in a closely-contested match on Merseyside in March 2025.
Liverpool defender, and current Wigan Athletic loanee, Isaac Mabaya’s backpass found its way past the goalkeeper and into an unguarded net. But in the last action of the game, a Liverpool free-kick was crossed into the box and inadvertently headed into his own net by Lewis Orford, ensuring a share of the spoils.