Adam Birchallās under-18s are set to face Manchester United in the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup on Friday, February 28. The match kicks off at 7pm (UK time) at Emirates Stadium.
Our young Gunners will be eager to bounce back after a narrow defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday - our first loss of 2025. This fixture presents an incredible opportunity to return to winning ways and reach the semi-finals.
Road to the Quarter-Finals
To reach this stage, we battled to a hard-fought 2-1 victory away at Fulham in the previous round. Andre Harriman-Annous and Max Dowman fired us into a two-goal lead before the hosts pulled one back just before half-time. A resilient second-half defensive display saw us hold on and secure our spot in the last eight.
Our journey so far has seen us overcome Hertford Town, Queen's Park Rangers, and Fulham, and now we prepare for our toughest test yet. Should we beat Manchester United, we will play away to either Aston Villa or Plymouth Argyle in the semi-final.
The Opposition
Manchester United have been in outstanding form this season. They currently sit second in the U18 Premier League North with 41 points from 16 games, trailing league leaders Manchester City by just two points.
Adam Lawrenceās side have won 13 matches, drawn two, and suffered just one defeat, which came against their city rivals.
Their FA Youth Cup campaign has been nothing short of dominant, scoring five goals in each of their wins so far:
- Third round: 5-0 vs Coventry City
- Fourth round: 5-2 vs Preston North End
- Fifth round: 5-1 vs Chelsea
Their main attacking threat has been Chido Obi-Martin, who has netted seven goals in three of their Youth Cup games, including a hat-trick against Chelsea. A familiar name to Arsenal fans, Obi-Martin spent two years at our academy before joining United last summer. However, it remains to be seen if he will feature, as he has been involved with their first team in recent weeks.
Another player to watch is James Scanlon, their leading league scorer with 10 goals and six assists in 11 league appearances this season.
How to Follow
Be part of the action and support our young Gunners at Emirates Stadium by purchasing tickets now, which are priced at Ā£4 for adults and Ā£2 for concessions.
If you canāt attend, you can watch it live on Arsenal.com or the official app from 6.55pm (UK time). Max Jones and former Gunner Perry Groves will be on commentary duty to talk you through every kick of the game.
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.