The group situation going into this match is that a victory for Blackpool will see them into the knockout phase, and that will also knock Nottm Forest U21 out of the competition.

I'm not sure that young Forest have the necessary quality to prevent this from happening either. They did well to salvage a late draw at Tranmere in the opening game of this competition, but Blackpool are a bit of a step up in terms of them being a League One club, with a deeper squad, although they have obviously had a very difficult start to the season. However, the dismissal of Steve Bruce could give them something of a bump, despite the defeat to Stockport at the weekend.

Nottm Forest U21 are having a difficult season in PL2, losing four of their six matches in that U21 competition. They have also lost both of their National League Cup matches, one to Boreham Wood and one to Braintree Town. Indeed, their only victory this season was a 1-0 win at West Ham U21 back on August 18th, so there is very little good form to speak of for Forest.

We already know from prior tournaments that teams that are up towards the top of League One tend to do very well in this EFL Trophy format. For one, they are generally the best teams in the tournament, and also, they tend to be the clubs with the deeper squads and better budgets who can have a decent second string to fill the XI with.

Bradford are currently second in League One, though they only came up from League Two last season, they have adapted to life in the third tier very well. Bradford also have a very strong recent history in this competition, progressing from the group stage three years in a row, and reaching the semi-finals in the last two years, so they don’t necessarily just throw this competition away.

Everton have lost four of their six PL2 matches so far this season, and they also lost 1-2 to Doncaster in their opening round of this competition. They have won one and lost one in the NL Cup, beating Solihull Moors in August but losing to Tamworth in September. Importantly, seven out of their nine matches so far this season have seen BTTS and over 2.5 goals come in. Indeed, the score has been 1-2 on five separate occasions.

There is some relevant head-to-head history here. These teams met in the group stage of this competition last season and Crewe won that contest 5-1. Though there will be obvious turnover in the Liverpool squad, that recency makes it quite relevant to thinking about this forthcoming match.

Crewe have already taken a huge win over Chesterfield in this competition, 7-1, so they can qualify with another win here. That victory should give the players selected for this competition great confidence and enthusiasm to play this match as well. Crewe have emerged from the group stage in this competition in three of the last five seasons, including last year.

Liverpool U21 are another U21 team having a poor PL2 season. They, like Nottm Forest and Everton, have lost four of their six PL2 matches, five of their seven matches this campaign have gone over 2.5 goals, and they have only conceded fewer than two goals in one match so far this season, which was a 1-1 draw versus Fulham U21 last time out. They lost 0-2 to Burton Albion in their opening game in this competition, so another loss here sees them knocked out in the group stage for the sixth time in seven years.