Barclays Under-21 Premier League 2015 Table: Results and Upcoming Fixtures

Liverpool’s clutch of bright young stars hammered bottom side West Ham United 5-0 in the Under-21 Premier League to move within one point of league leaders Manchester United.  

The Reds roared into a 3-0 lead at half-time against the Hammers to effectively end the contest, but they added a further two goals after the break to cement their status as genuine title challengers.

Elsewhere, Fulham picked up a much needed 2-1 win over Norwich City to put some distance between themselves and the Hammers at the bottom of the table. In Division 2, Stoke City rallied in the latter stages of their clash with Blackburn Rovers despite being down to 10 men, eventually winning 1-0.

Here’s how the action played out in an engrossing day in U21 Premier League:

Date	Time	Home	Score	Away
Friday, March 20	1 p.m.	Stoke City	1-0	Blackburn Rovers
Friday, March 20	7 p.m.	Liverpool	5-0	West Ham United
Friday, March 20	7 p.m.	Fulham	2-1	Norwich City
Monday, March 23	2 p.m.	Leicester City	-	Tottenham
Friday, March 27	7 p.m.	Middlesbrough	-	Stoke City

Division 1
Division 2
POS	CLUB	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Man Utd U21	16	7	6	3	25	16	9	27
2	Liverpool U21	15	8	2	5	28	19	9	26
3	Southampton U21	16	7	4	5	26	24	2	25
4	Spurs U21	15	7	3	5	22	17	5	24
5	Leicester U21	15	6	4	5	26	25	1	22
6	Norwich U21	16	6	4	6	22	23	-1	22
7	Chelsea U21	14	6	3	5	25	19	6	21
8	Man City U21	14	6	2	6	27	25	2	20
9	Everton U21	15	6	2	7	24	25	-1	20
10	Sunderland U21	16	5	4	7	18	22	-4	19
11	Fulham U21	16	5	4	7	22	30	-8	19
12	West Ham U21	15	3	2	10	12	27	-15	11
POS	CLUB	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Middlesbrough U21	16	10	2	4	24	19	5	32
2	Derby U21	16	9	3	4	31	18	13	30
3	Newcastle U21	16	7	5	4	35	26	9	26
4	West Brom U21	16	7	5	4	29	23	6	26
5	Reading U21	15	8	2	5	30	27	3	26
6	Arsenal U21	14	7	4	3	23	13	10	25
7	Bolton U21	18	4	8	6	24	26	-2	20
8	Aston Villa U21	16	5	3	8	17	29	-12	18
9	Brighton U21	17	4	5	8	15	20	-5	17
10	Stoke U21	15	4	5	6	19	30	-11	17
11	Blackburn U21	17	2	6	9	18	26	-8	12
12	Wolves U21	16	1	8	7	18	26	-8	11

Division 1 Recap

Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images

Liverpool supporters have already seen a glimpse of some exciting young talent in the Premier League this season, and this clash with West Ham suggests that there are plenty more exciting stars still to come off of the Anfield production line.

The Hammers were no match for the young Reds, as they chased shadows throughout a hopelessly lopsided match. As noted by the West Ham Twitter account, it was a display that suggested that this Liverpool team is set to challenge for the title this season.

Indeed, Liverpool had this game pretty much won within the opening six minutes of the match, as Kevin Stewart and Ryan McLaughlin netted; Cameron Brannagan added a third before the break to make the game absolutely safe.

The Reds’ Twitter account paid tribute to what they described as a “sensational” display:

West Ham regrouped pretty well after the break to stem the flow of the attacks, but there was a sense that Liverpool’s fourth was a mere inevitability. So, it was no surprise when the excellent McLaughlin bagged his second on 66 minutes, and with the Hammers heads down, Sergi Canos rounded off the rout with a fifth, 15 minutes from time.

Former Liverpool defender Rob Jones was delighted with the performance:

Fulham also sampled victory, be it in much tighter circumstances. The Craven Cottage club surged into a two-goal lead thanks to two strikes from Ange-Freddy Plumain before the break, but Conor McGrandles’ second-half strike made for a nervy finish for the hosts. Nonetheless, they eventually held out for a vital three points.

The Cottagers have been in rotten form as of late, sitting in second bottom coming into this encounter. But they boast some very exciting youngsters, and this victory over a decent Norwich team should see them surge up the table in the remaining weeks of the season.

Division 2 Recap

Stoke's young stars were forced to dig deep at Clayton Wood, as they overcame Blackburn Rovers 1-0, despite going down to 10 men in the second half.

Joel Taylor was the match winner as he finished neatly in the 72nd minute. The goal was a timely one for the Potters, who had Eddy Lecygne dismissed for a poor tackle just seven minutes earlier.

Neither of these teams have been overly impressive this season, with both languishing down in the bottom three coming into this one. From the off, it was clear that neither side had a great deal of rhythm to their play, and as such, the game became very scrappy during the opening exchanges.

With little to chose between the two teams in the first period, both sides came out for the start of the second half with a little more intensity. But that increased purpose spilled over into rashness in the 65th minute as Lecygne dived into a tackle with reckless intent, prompting the referee to send him off.

Even the official Stoke City Twitter account admitted it was a dangerous challenge:

But the Potters came roaring back into contention, and with Rovers failing to make the extra man tell, Taylor seized upon one of the only clear-cut chances conjured in the match. Nathan Ricketts-Hopkinson was the architect, as he skipped down the right-hand side before fizzing an excellent cross into the box; Taylor made no mistake with the finish.

The Potters clung on in the final few minutes despite a flurry of late pressure from Blackburn. But it was too little too late from the visitors, who are now five points behind the Potters after they clung on to take a vital win.