A look at the best U-22 Young Players this week, looking at the La Liga, Bundesliga, Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1, Eredivisie & Portuguese Primeira. Eligibility criteria is U22 for outfield players, and U23 for goalkeepers on matchday.
AC Milan continued their excellent start to the season, which they hope will finish in a Champions League finish, with a rare away win against Napoli. Gianluigi Donnarumma (21) was kept busy in the 3-1 win and he takes his spot in goal.
Chelsea’s Reece James (20) is at right-back, following another assured display in his side’s 2-1 win over Newcastle; the Englishman has essentially kept club captain Cesar Azpilicueta out of the squad. Merih Demiral (22) put in a solid display for Juventus in their comfortable 2-0 win over Cagliari. Besides helping his side to a cleansheet, it was his flicked header that led to Cristiano Ronaldo’s second goal of the game.
Although the game wasn’t as intense as Werder Bremen would have expected, a 1-1 draw away to Bayern Munich is always an exceptional feet. Marco Friedl (22) was at the heart of the defence as they restricted the champions to just one goal and earn an excellent point. Ryan Sessegnon (20) didn’t have the best defensive performance as Hoffenheim drew 3-3 at home to Stuttgart. He did however score his side’s second goal to draw them level at the time.
Ismaël Bennacer (22) is the second Milan representative in this week’s XI; the Algerian put in a professional shift against a solid Napoli midfield. Monaco were 3-2 victors against defending champions PSG with young Aurélien Tchouaméni (20) playing through the middle. The principality club went two behind through goals from Kylian Mbappe, but showed excellent resolve to take all three points. Ryan Gravenberch (18) may be the name we are told to remember through this Eredivise campaign. The Dutchman is becoming a regular stalwart in the Amsterdam clubs’ midfield, and was so again in the 5-0 win over Heracles.
Canadian Jonathan David (20) scored his first goal for Lille, all the way in the last minute in a 4-0 win over Lorient, having already assisted one of Yusuf Yazici’s goals earlier. That should be some pressure off of him. The final two players in this week’s XI both played in the same game as Hertha Berlin lost 5-2 at home to Borussia Dortmund. Matheus Cunha (21) scored both of Hertha’s goals, including opening the scoring and pulling one back from the spot. But there was only one name who was going to be the star this week; Erling Haaland (20) scored four goals including a seventeen minute hat-trick as he helped respond to going 1-0 down heading into half time. He shouldn’t be surprising viewers with his scoring record, and yet continues to do so.
Read all our Team of the Week articles here.
