Liverpool 5 Albion 1: Under-21s suffer first defeat in five

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Shannon Ruth's team well beaten on Merseyside.

Nick Szczepanik

2026-09-19T14:00+01:00

Valentin Joseph scored Albion's only goal in their loss to the Reds. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

Albion men’s under-21s slumped to a first defeat in five matches, losing 5-1 to Liverpool at the Reds’ academy HQ at Kirkby.

Albion had a disastrous start and it went largely downhill from there. They were behind in only the second minute and 2-0 down in the 12th.

It was 3-0 after 25 minutes, and although Valentin Joseph pulled one back with the last kick of the first half, Liverpool restored their three-goal advantage early in the second.

An own goal from Albion’s Theo Outen made it 5-1.

Head coach Shannon Ruth had rung the changes following the 2-1 midweek victory over Paris St Germain in the Premier League International Cup. Regular starters Ben Barclay, Tyler Silsby and George Munday began the afternoon on the bench, and Joseph made his first start in Munday’s usual spot as central striker.

There was a Hall in each goal, Bailey Hall for Liverpool and Steven for Albion, and it was Steven who was beaten after only 70 seconds. Reds' fullback Isaab Mabaya went past Kofi Shaw on the right and crossed low to the near post where Joshua Sonni-Lambie turned the ball in from close range.

It was 2-0 after 11 minutes. Will Wright saw his first cross from the left blocked, but at the second attempt he rolled the ball into the path of home skipper Michael Laffey, who smacked his shot past Hall from eight yards.

Shannon Ruth's team sit 19th in Premier League 2. 📸 by James Boardman.

Miah Oriola tried to engineer a reply with a determined dribble infield from the left that almost took him to the near post before he was crowded out by Liverpool defenders.

But instead it was Liverpool who scored again. Wright and Sebastian Ademola contested a long through ball from Laffey and the Liverpool man proved the stronger, shrugging off his opponent and firing past Hall’s left hand.

Very little that Albion tried came off until first-half added time when Younes Ibrahim floated a free kick to the far post, Callum Mackley headed back across goal and Valentin volleyed home his first goal for the club.

However, it did not signal a way back into the game for the team in blue. Five minutes into the second half Albion conceded possession cheaply and Wright ran into the penalty area and rolled his second goal past Hall.

Ruth made changes, but Adam Brett had barely touched the ball after taking the field when he was forced off again by a vigorous challenge from Joe Upton, and it got worse when a corner from the right by Alvin Ayman skidded off the head of substitute Outen, over Hall and in.

Albion kept attacking and forced a series of corners, but a volley by Shaw from Sean Keogh’s cross, pawed away by Bailey Shaw, was as close as they came.

Albion: S Hall; Mackley, Ademola (Outen 45), T Ferdinand, Keogh; Shaw, Nti; Palmer (Silsby 45), Ibrahim (Brett 61; Alakiu 64), Oriola; Joseph (Munday 61).