This is a hugely significant week for the Arsenal academy, with the club’s U18 side facing Manchester City away on Friday night in an eagerly-anticipated FA Youth Cup fourth round tie before the U21s travel to play Liverpool the following day.
With regards to the game against City, it will be intriguing to see how Arsenal line up at Joie Stadium, especially in attack.
The Arsenal coaching staff have an array of attacking options available to them, even if Andre Harriman-Annous and Max Dowman (who usually plays in midfield for the youth teams in any case) end up missing out through injury.
Following the Winter break, the U18s returned to league action last weekend with a 2-1 defeat at home to Leicester City.
Ceadach O’Neill was, somewhat surprisingly, named amongst the substitutes but the attacker came off the bench to score yet another goal in what has been a hugely productive campaign.
Schoolboy Kyran Thompson, who was deployed on the right flank, provided the assist for O’Neill’s goal with a clever pass and posed an attacking threat himself.
Louis Zecevic John started up front, with the forward now looking to build up momentum after enduring much frustration with injuries.
Zecevic John has already made a major contribution to Arsenal’s Youth Cup campaign as he scored in the victory against Mansfield Town in the previous round.
Brando Bailey-Joseph, meanwhile, is capable of making an impact on either flank and has been a key figure for the U18s this season as well as gaining valuable experience with the U19s in the UEFA Youth League.
For the game against City it will be very interesting to see which attacking trio is selected.
Thompson was named on the bench against Mansfield but given the quality that he possesses it would be a difficult call to leave him out this time.
Perhaps the best option would be to start O’Neill up front with Thompson and Bailey-Joseph out wide, which would enable the lively Zecevic John to make an impact as a substitute.
Whichever attacking trio they select, it seems likely that Arsenal will have to score several times if they are to prevail against a City side who are a major threat in front of goal themselves.