News reached us here at TheChels late last week of a friendly between Arsenal and Chelsea at Under-18 level to be played at the Emirates Stadium.
We can now reveal that the match will take place on Sunday 23rd October, immediately after Arsenal’s first team take on Stoke in Premier League action. For Chelsea fans, that unfortunately clashes with the Blues’ much-anticipated trip to Loftus Road to play QPR, but the match is nonetheless intriguing.
Both clubs have the weekend off from Premier Academy League action as part of their schedule and have organised a high-profile friendly in front of what will hopefully be a healthy crowd, with fans allowed to stay in the stadium after the first team play.
It affords the teams with an opportunity to play at a top-class venue and in an atmosphere many will not have experienced before, whilst also giving extra exposure to youth team football and potentially gaining a new audience.
The two teams actually meet in league action at Cobham a week on Saturday and whilst Arsenal took the spoils in both league outings last season, winning 3-0 and 4-1 respectively, Chelsea won the high-profile FA Youth Cup clash between the sides at Stamford Bridge as two Milan Lalkovic goals took them through en route to the Semi Final.
In a five-team pre-season tournament hosted by Manchester United in August, it was once again the Blues coming out on top, as Adie Viveash’s young team won a frenetic affair by five goals to four.
Look out for more news on this throughout the month of October by following @chelseayouth on Twitter.