National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Tranmere Rovers or Manchester City U21 that keep their silverware dream alive.
There haven't been much time to rest for the hosts, as they played a League Two match only three days ago. This match was also played here at Etihad Stadium. With two consecutive home games the intense schedule is somewhat softened. Still, Manchester City U21 have had more rest.
Tranmere Rovers form and stats
Tranmere Rovers have reached this EFL Trophy stage through battling and winning against Liverpool U21, Port Vale and Wigan Athletic. Last season, Tranmere's EFL Trophy journey ended in the 3rd round.Tranmere Rovers have played 8 League Two games at their own stadium so far this season, resulting in 4-0-4 (wins-draws-losses). On the other hand, in the EFL Trophy, Tranmere Rovers has performed like this (both home and away): 1 win, 2 draws and 0 losses.
Tranmere's previous game was also a home match, the defeat 1-3 versus Walsall. Before that match, a League Two win away at Oldham Athletic.
Tranmere's goalkeeper Scott Davies was extremely busy against Walsall, saving the team from a uglier defeat with a stunning nine saves.
Tranmere are traveling soon after this match as the League Two match at Exeter City awaits in four days.
Tranmere Rovers has scored 11 league goals at home this season, in 8 matches. On the other hand, Tranmere have conceded 8 goals. There's been improvement defensively lately, as only -1 of these goals has been conceded in their last 3 home matches.
Manchester City U21 form and stats
The traveling awayteam has defeated Lincoln City, Mansfield Town and Scunthorpe United in order to reach 2nd Round of EFL Trophy. They also participated in EFL Trophy last season. This ended in the 3rd round.4 wins, 2 draws and 5 losses. That’s the product of Manchester City U21 playing as the away team in the Premier League U21 this season. When we have look at the EFL Trophy statistics, we find 2W-1D-0L. This is both home and away.
Manchester are the visiting side once again, their previous game being the 1-1 draw at Lincoln City (after extra-time, 4-3 on penalties). Preceding that game was the away EFL Trophy victory against Scunthorpe United with the score of 4-0.
Manchester find the net regularly in their away games. 15 goals from 11 away fixtures in the league. It's worth mentioning that 8 of these goals has been scored in their last three away matches. Manchester have conceded 14 goals in these away matches. There's been improvement defensively lately, as only 1 of these goals has been conceded in their last 3 away matches.
Head 2 Head
Top Goalscorers
  J. Vaughan 8 goals |  P. Clarke 2 goals | K. Morris 2 goals |
Tranmere Rovers missing players
Manchester City U21 missing players
| Tranmere Rovers | Manchester City U21 | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 14 | Played | P | 21 | 25 | ||
| 12 | 7 | Won | W | 9 | 11 | ||
| 7 | 3 | Drew | D | 6 | 7 | ||
| 6 | 4 | Lost | L | 6 | 7 | ||
| 33 | 21 | Scored | S | 38 | 42 | ||
| 27 | 15 | Conceded | C | 28 | 30 | ||
| 88% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | ||
| 60% | 71% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 90% | 84% | ||
| 44% | 43% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 62% | 52% | ||
| 28% | 29% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 38% | 32% | ||
| 12% | 14% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 14% | 12% | ||
| 40% | 43% | BTTS | BTTS | 67% | 60% | ||
| 40% | 36% | Clean Sheets | C S | 24% | 28% | ||
| 32% | 21% | Failed to Score | F T | 10% | 12% | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.1 | 0.9 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 8.5 | 7.9 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 11.7 | 11.7 | ||
| 2.4 | 2.4 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4.4 | 4.4 | ||
| 54% | 64% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 46% | 46% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Newport County | 15 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 33 |
| 2 | Cheltenham Town | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 29 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 32 |
| 3 | Forest Green Rovers | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 29 |
| 4 | Carlisle United | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 22 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 29 |
| 5 | Exeter City | 16 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 33 | 23 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 18 | 16 | 10 | 27 |
| 6 | Cambridge United | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 27 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 14 | 25 |
| 7 | Salford City | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 23 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 25 |
| 8 | Leyton Orient | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 24 | 19 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 24 |
| 9 | Tranmere Rovers | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 24 |
| 10 | Port Vale | 16 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 24 | 21 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 22 |
| 11 | Bolton Wanderers | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 24 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 12 | -4 | 22 |
| 12 | Morecambe | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 19 | 27 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 16 | -8 | 22 |
| 13 | Colchester United | 14 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 21 | 21 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| 14 | Walsall | 16 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 17 | 18 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 12 | -1 | 21 |
| 15 | Crawley Town | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 23 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 1 | 20 |
| 16 | Oldham Athletic | 16 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 23 | 29 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 15 | -6 | 20 |
| 17 | Harrogate Town | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 17 | 20 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 8 | -3 | 19 |
| 18 | Scunthorpe United | 14 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 21 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 9 | -6 | 17 |
| 19 | Mansfield Town | 16 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 7 | -5 | 15 |
| 20 | Grimsby Town | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 11 | -10 | 15 |
| 21 | Barrow | 16 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 24 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 9 | -4 | 13 |
| 22 | Stevenage | 16 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 9 | -5 | 13 |
| 23 | Bradford City | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | -6 | 13 |
| 24 | Southend United | 15 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 29 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 14 | -23 | 6 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Manchester United U21 | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 44 | 19 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 25 | 48 |
| 2 | Sunderland U21 | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 38 | 20 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 10 | 18 | 43 |
| 3 | Everton U21 | 22 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 35 | 27 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 15 | 8 | 37 |
| 4 | Manchester City U21 | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 35 | 26 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 34 |
| 5 | Chelsea U21 | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 34 | 30 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 14 | 4 | 33 |
| 6 | Southampton U21 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 39 | 40 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 25 | 25 | -1 | 30 |
| 7 | Liverpool U21 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 26 | 37 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 19 | -11 | 28 |
| 8 | Tottenham U21 | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 44 | 43 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 26 | 27 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 16 | 1 | 27 |
| 9 | Reading U21 | 22 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 34 | 40 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 18 | 20 | -6 | 27 |
| 10 | Leicester U21 | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 25 | 48 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 31 | -23 | 21 |
| 11 | Middlesbrough U21 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 33 | 37 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 16 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 20 | -4 | 20 |
| 12 | Norwich City U21 | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 30 | 50 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 22 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 28 | -20 | 19 |