Port Vale v Liverpool B preview – will Vale pick up a final group win?
Port Vale v Liverpool B: Darrell Clarke’s side complete their Football League Trophy group stages with a home tie against Liverpool B. Here’s our match preview…
Match details
Details:
Port Vale v Liverpool B, Football League Trophy group stages
Where:
Vale Park stadium
When:
Tuesday 9th November, 7pm
What’s the Trophy status?
The Valiants are level on points with Rochdale in second place in the Group D table. This is the final group game so Vale just need to draw or beat their opponents to progress to the knock-out stages.
Vale’s Football League campaign so far:
Opposition pen pix
Liverpool have rotated their squad during these fixtures but players to appear in both the previous games include the following:
Liverpool’s young guns
- Billy Koumetio: French U18 International defender
- Sean Wilson: locally-born right-back
- Tyler Morton: a goalscoring midfielder who helped Liverpool to the 2021 FA Youth Cup final
- Elijah Dixon-Bonner: former Arsenal youth team midfielder who joined Liverpool in 2015
- Max Woltman: locally born forward who has been at the club since aged seven
- Jack Bearne: Nottingham-born forward who was signed from Notts County in 2017
Valiants team news
We’re expecting wholesale changes for this game with the likes of Aidan Stone (pictured), Brad Walker, Jake Taylor, Mal Benning and George Lloyd all expected to start as Darrell Clarke rotates his squad.
Jamie Proctor, Ryan Johnson and Alex Hurst all remain sidelined through injury.
Our guesswork starting eleven:
We’ve gone for nine changes with just Lewis Cass and David Amoo starting from the eleven which defeated Accrington in the FA Cup
Stone; Martin, Legge, Amos; Cass, Garrity, Taylor, Walker, Benning; Lloyd, Amoo
Man in charge
Barry Lewtas took over as Liverpool U23s manager in May 2020, after the departure of Neil Critchley to Blackpool. Lewtas was previously the club’s U18 manager.
Barry joined Liverpool Football Club in 2013 after working previously at Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanderers.
Trophy facts
Here’s how the competition prize fund looks this year…
Where the money goes…
- Winner: £100,000
- Runner-ups: £50,000
- Semi Finals: £50,000
- Quarter Finals: £50,000
- Round of 16: £40,000
- Round of 32: £20,000
- Group Stage Winning Match: £10,000
- Group Stage Match Tie: £5,000
- Participation Fees:£20,000
Connections
A familiar face in the Liverpool Academy set-up will be former Port Vale midfielder Marc Bridge-Wilkinson. After the departure of Neil Critchley to Blackpool, Bridge-Wilkinson moved up from U16 manager to U18 manager with Barry Lewtas moving from U18 manager to U23 manager.
Well-known to Valiants fans, Bridge-Wilkinson was a free transfer signing from Derby County in 2000. He scored in Vale’s 2001 Football League Trophy final win over Brentford and went on to make 124 appearances, scoring 31 times. However, he turned down a new contract in 2004 in order to join Stockport County. He had further spells with Bradford City, Carlisle United and Darlington before finishing his playing career in 2012.
From the archives
Match Report: Port Vale 4-2 Liverpool B (FLT 10th Nov 2020)
Harry McKirdy and Alex Hurst both scored their first goals for Port Vale as the Valiants won an entertaining Football League Trophy game against Liverpool’s B side.
Predict the score…
Quiz – Port Vale’s Trophy so far…
Here’s a quick quiz on the opponents:
- Which two sides have Vale faced so far?
- Who were the goalscorers for Vale in their first group game?
- How many points do Vale have before this game?
- What group are Port Vale in?
Quiz answers (no cheating):
- Bolton Wanderers and Rochdale
- Tom Conlon and David Amoo
- Three
- Group D