Brentford B face Arsenal Under-21s in the quarter-final of the Premier League Cup this evening (Monday) at the VBS Community Stadium in a 7pm kick-off.

The young Bees have recently returned from two matches in Portugal and they will be aiming to secure themselves a place in the last four of this season’s competition in their debut campaign.

Setting the scene

The B team have been in the Algarve for a week’s stay where they took on two senior teams. First of all they faced the Icelandic champions in Breiðablik before they then faced Swedish side IF Elfsborg. They returned to England having been beaten twice by their senior opponents in what was another brilliant learning curve for the young group. The Premier League Cup has proved a fantastic competition for the group this season having won five of their six group games to finish top before they met Middlesbrough Under-21s in the round of 16 at the Lamex Stadium. Neil MacFarlane’s team then ran out 2-1 winners over the side from the north east to set themselves up with an exciting tie against the Gunners.

Alex Gilbert netted against Middlesbrough to help the Bees into the quarter-final

In opposition

Arsenal’s Under-21s compete in Premier League Two Division One and they come into the game following a 1-0 home defeat to Liverpool. The reds managed to edge a narrow match as they claimed the win on 86 minutes through Layton Stewart at Meadow Park. Prior to that they were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Chelsea which followed a 1-1 draw with West Ham United. In charge of Arsenal's Under-21s is Mehmet Ali who took the role having been assistant to Kevin Betsy before he departed for Crawley Town. Prior to joining Arsenal, he previously worked within the youth set up at Reading.

Mehmet Ali is in charge of Arsenal's Under-21 side

Ticket details

Ticket prices for the match are £5 for adults and Under-12s can gain entry for £2. All tickets will be available at the gate.

View from the camp

There is an excitement among the B team group ahead of this fixture with winger Tony Yogane saying the side will be ready to face a tough opponent under the lights in Sutton. Looking ahead to the game, he said: “The Premier League Cup has been fun. We look forward to it and we want to go out there and run every team over and try to get to the final. Everyone is looking forward to it because it’s exciting, a cup feeling and we’re ready for it. It’s going to be a good game against a tough team, but every game is tough and you never know what to expect. We’re going to be ready and prepare for that.”

B team head coach Neil MacFarlane feels is also looking forward to the game and he feels his players thoroughly deserve their place in the quarter-final stage. He explained: “The players deserve it for the season they’ve had. It’s been outstanding, the level of opposition that we’ve come up against is improving these players. If you take the Premier League Cup in isolation, for us to perform in our first season in it and have such a mouth-watering game to look forward to is something our staff and players are really excited about. Hopefully people can get down there, it’s a great platform for the players and we can’t wait.”

Neil MacFarlane says his side can't wait for their test against the Gunners

Grab yourself a match day programme!

We’re pleased to say that we have produced a match day programme for the game at the VBS Community Stadium. The poster style format includes Neil MacFarlane’s notes ahead of the game, we take a look at four B team players in focus as well as track the run to the quarter-final from the opening day victory over Blackburn back in September. Also included is a large fold out poster of the B team squad!

Match coverage

The only way to watch the match is to head down to the VBS Community Stadium to cheer on the young Bees. We will provide updates across social media as well as a full report and post-match reaction following the game.