U21 Matchday Duel: Joe Willock vs. Phil Foden

This week’s Matchday Duel sees two of the best young English midfielders go head-to-head on the F.A. Cup semi-final between Arsenal and Manchester City: Gunners’ Joe Willock against the Cityzens’ Phil Foden.

Joe Willock is an interesting case for Arsenal. He and his older brother Chris Willock (SL Benfica) rose through the ranks of Arsenal’s youth academy, with Chris being the one Willock from whom the Gunners expected great things. When their favored wonderkid left for Portugal at the age of nineteen, Arsenal began to consider how Joe could fill the void left by his brother’s departure.

After a couple of years with the U23 squad, Joe Willock finally debuted in Arsenal’s 1st team. While many among the London club’s supporters consider him to be still too green for the job, Willock’s regular appearances and all-around style of play prove that he has both the potential and the skill set for a permanent midfield role in Arsenal’s starting XI.

Contrasting with Joe Willock is another 20-year-old central midfielder by the name of Phil Foden. Regarded as one of the greatest accomplishments of Manchester City’s youth academy in recent years, Foden has long been described as a future star in the making, one with the potential to become a world-class player in his own right. The creative midfielder was already evaluated in 20M € at age 18, and has since been able to wrest playing time from more established City players such as Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gündogan.

Unable to fight for the Premier League’s top spot, both Arsenal and Man City now seek to be the ones lifting the FA Cup. The duel between the two teams’ rising talents only makes this semi-final even more thrilling. Which of these center midfielders do you think will take their team to Wembley?

Other duels you can’t miss this weekend

MEN

FRIDAY, JULY 17

• Declan Rice (West Ham United) vs. João Pedro (Watford)

• Emile Smith-Rowe (Huddersfield Town) vs. Dara O’Shea (West Bromwich Albion)

SATURDAY, JULY 18

• Khephren Thuram-Ulien (OGC Nice) vs. Ianis Hagi (Rangers FC)

• Alexis Saelemaekers (AC Milan) vs. Musa Barrow (Bologna FC)

• Tyrese Campbell (Stoke City) vs. Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford)

• Becir Omeragic (Zurich FC) vs. Felix Mambimbi (BSC Young Boys)

SUNDAY, JULY 19

• Borja Sainz (Deportivo Alavés) vs. Ansu Fati (FC Barcelona)

• Eljif Elmas (SC Napoli) vs. Marco Ballarini (Udinese Calcio)

• Güven Yalcin (Besiktas JK) vs. Ferdi Kadioglu (Fenerbahçe SK)

• Maximiliano Lovera (Olympiakos) vs. Ziga Laci (AEK Athens)

• Magomed-Shapi Suleymanov (FK Krasnodar) vs. Sebastian Szymanski (Dinamo Moscow)

• Ricardo Azevedo (Servette FC) vs. Afimico Pululu (FC Basel)

• Francisco Ginella (LAFC) vs. Cameron Dunbar (LA Galaxy)

WOMEN

FRIDAY, JULY 17

• Jordyn Huitema (PSG) vs. Fenna Kalma (FC Twente)