Albion Under-21s’ Premier League 2 season begins with an away clash against Brighton on Sunday afternoon (ko 4pm).
Having got their competitive action going on Wednesday in the National League Cup, the club’s academy hopefuls will be looking to make a good start to the new campaign on the south coast.
They face a tough opponent in the Seagulls, though, whose academy has enjoyed a steady progression of graduates featuring in the senior setup during recent seasons.
Venue
The game will take place at Brighton’s American Express Elite Football Performance Centre.
Pre-match thoughts
Dan Chimeziri is looking to build on his first professional contract by kickstarting a run of goals and follow in the footsteps of the Baggies’ former prolific PL2 strikers.
Reyes Cleary, and more recently, Eseosa Sule, surpassed double figures in Premier League youth competitions when playing among Albion’s young professionals, and Chimeziri is hoping to achieve the same feat during the 2025/26 campaign.
Having accumulated 16 goal contributions across the U18 and U21 teams last season (nine goals, seven assists), Dan hopes to begin doing the job people are “relying on him to do” this term and find the net against the Seagulls in Sunday’s opener.
“I'm very excited for the first PL2 game this weekend," said Chimeziri.
“Signing a professional contract in the summer was something I've been dreaming of doing since a young age, so I was really grateful and thanked God for such a defining moment in my career.
“My targets for the season, obviously, is to try and get on the scoresheet every week.
“That's my job so, hopefully, by Christmas I'm praying I can get to 10 goals. Everyone will be relying on me to do that job in front of goal and I want to join that list of strikers who've done well for the 21s over the years.
“My aim is to get to that level and use the confidence from that sort of form to play men's football in the future as well.
“Now, it’s about kickstarting that run of goals. Hopefully, it starts against Brighton and we can push on from there.”
How to follow
There will be no live updates from Albion’s opening Premier League 2 clash with Brighton on Sunday.
A match report will be available on the club website post-match.
