Man City's route to FA Youth Cup final and who to look out for
- Published
Oliver Reiss' free-scoring Manchester City side have netted 18 goals in their run to the FA Youth Cup final - with wins over Fulham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton and Blackburn Rovers to set up a crunch derby against Manchester United.
Star striker Teddie Lamb scored in the semi-final victory over Rovers and has netted a total of 28 goals in just 26 games in all competitions this season. The prolific 16-year-old joined from Leyton Orient for a reported £355,000, external last year and was the top scorer in the Premier League U18 competition. He was nominated for the player of the year award, beaten by Thursday's opponent JJ Gabriel.
There is also interest in the sons of former Premier League players being involved in City's academy set-up - Reigan Heskey, son of ex-Liverpool striker Emile - also scored in the previous round, while Tyrone and Floyd Samba - sons of former QPR and Blackburn defender Chris - have scored 18 goals between them so far this season.
At the back, Leke Drake was named as City's Premier League scholar of the year following an impressive campaign - in which the defender played in every game to skipper the side to the Premier League U18 North title. The 18-year-old is renowned for his ball-playing ability and versatility.
Midfielder Harrison Miles has only scored twice this season, but one of those came courtesy of a rasping, long-range strike against United in the league earlier this term - City came from 2-0 behind to win that game 4-2. "I can't wait to play," said Miles. "It's my second time playing in a final like this so it's definitely exciting. We know a lot of the players, but it is always big anyway.
"It is a Manchester derby and we are competing in the league. It is probably heightened by that, but we are all just focused on the game and what's to come."
The Youth Cup final kicks off at 19:00 BST on Thursday and will be broadcast live from 18:50 BST on BBC iPlayer here, plus the BBC Sport website and app.