Liverpool Under-18s can go three points clear at the top of the table if they beat arch-rivals Manchester United on Saturday.
The young Reds are currently top of the Northern Division rankings by the slenderest of margins.
They are level with Manchester City on points and goal difference but their superior goals scored tally (52 against 45) keeps them ahead.
Crucially, both City and United have two games in hand, but the Reds can nonetheless lay down a marker this weekend with another seven rounds of fixtures to come.
Layton Stewart on the U18s and U23s wins last weekend over Everton and Arsenal:
“It was a brilliant day for the boys. We watched the U18s score the late winner against Everton to do the double over them this season, which was brilliant.” #awlfc [lfc] pic.twitter.com/c9HxiHoYSY
— Anfield Watch Academy (@AcadWatch) March 4, 2021
They come into the game off the back of a memorable mini-derby victory.
Mateusz Musialowski scored a dramatic 94th-minute winner moments after Thomas Christopher Cannon thought he had snatched a point for Everton from the penalty spot.
Marc-Bridge Wilkinson’s men have now won five of their last seven matches.
Opponents United, on the other hand, have lost two of their last three.
Having beaten City 4-2 last month, they slipped-up home at home to Derby County.
Charlie McNeill opened the scoring for Neil Ryan’s team but they ultimately fell to a 3-1 defeat.
Centre-forward McNeill is United’s danger man with a hugely impressive return of 13 goals in 12 appearances.
He was on target when the two sides last met in December.
Joe Hugill’s 85th-minute strike earned United a 4-3 win.
But Hugill and Layton Stewart, who scored twice for Liverpool that day, have since graduated to the Under-23s.
Saturday’s meeting in Kirkby gets underway at 11.00.
