This is only the second round match in the competition and, as such, there are some qualification criteria to build into this.

The heavy defeat that Wimbledon suffered at the hands of Stevenage means that they either view this match as a must-win in terms of qualification, or, just as likely, they are writing this competition off. Therefore, motivation might be lacking.

I don't feel as confident in saying that the league club is the bet, however, I do still like goals. Both teams scored in both ties that these teams played in the opening round, Wimbledon losing 1-5 to Stevenage, and Crystal Palace U21 drawing 3-3 at Bromley.

Palace did have a rare 0-0 PL2 draw, but also a 3-2 win at Tottenham this season. Whilst Wimbledon were very solid defensively last season, they have conceded in their last five matches, and two or more goals in four of those.

MK Dons will undoubtedly be targeting a return to League One over and above a run in the EFL Trophy, but their pursuit of promotion has led to them developing the size of their squad to a level that even a rotated team should be strong enough for West Ham U21s. These two met in this competition in 2022, that led to a 2-0 MK Dons win.

The 2023/24 competition actually saw West Ham U21 make it to the second knockout round of this competition, but that was a quality team with the likes of Oliver Scarles, Divin Mubama, George Earthy, Calum Marshall, and Gideon Kodua in it.

West Ham lost all three of their group matches last season, with two of those defeats going over 2.5 goals. Two of their PL2 matches have seen a lot of goals too, a 1-3 defeat to Man City and a 4-2 win at Sunderland.

Crawley are very much a team in development, but that development appears to be moving apace now with two wins in a row in League Two. I can sense a definite shift in their performances, with their draw against Chesterfield a prominent part of that.

Crawley progressed out of the EFL Trophy group in 23/24, but failed to do so last year, though all of their 24/25 Trophy matches did see over 2.5 goals land.

Aston Villa's U21 side have had three PL2 matches, and all of them have gone over 2.5 goals - two of them were defeats, 0-3 to Leeds and 1-2 to Chelsea.

Crawley have met Aston Villa U21 twice in this competition. Crawley won 5-2 in 2022 and then again 3-2 in 2023, so there is some form there, though obviously an age group team will be totally different from one year to the next.