Man City youngsters step up pre-season plans with European friendly

Manchester City Under-21s enjoyed a stunning season last term and they are stepping up their plans for a repeat in 2025/26.

Ben Wilkinson's Manchester City Under-21 side enjoyed an outstanding campaign last season

Manchester City Under-21s will play City Football Group club Lommel in a pre-season friendly on Wednesday, July 23, as Ben Wilkinson's side step up their preparations for the new season.

The Elite Development Squad are expected to spend the majority of their pre-season campaign in Manchester but they will travel to Belgium to take on the fellow City Football Group side, who compete in the Challenger Pro League, the second division in the country.

The game will kick-off at 12pm local time with tickets available for €5. The match will take place on field six at the LSK Youth Academy.

City are likely to arrange more friendlies for their EDS side ahead of the start of the new season, with the Premier League 2 schedule yet to be confirmed.

City finished top of the Premier League 2 table last season and then went on to win the play-offs, beating Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United to set up a final with Southampton, which they won 2-0.

They suffered just three defeats in their 24 Premier League 2 games but did fail to get out of the group stage in the EFL Trophy, losing on penalties to Chesterfield, beating Grimsby on penalties but then losing 5-0 to Lincoln City.

This season they will face Bolton Wanderers, Oldham Athletic and Rotherham in the group stage of the competition.

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