2017–18 Premier League International Cup

2017–18 Premier League International Cup
	The Emirates Stadium in Highbury, London hosted the final
Tournament details
Dates	31 August 2017 – 8 May 2018
Teams	24 (from 9 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Porto (2nd title)
Runners-up	Arsenal
Tournament statistics
Matches played	43
Goals scored	123 (2.86 per match)
Top scorer(s)	James Wilson Manchester United ; Adrián Dalmau Villarreal; (5 goals)
	← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The 2017–18 Premier League International Cup was the fourth season of the Premier League International Cup, a European club football competition organised by the Premier League for under-23 players. Porto defended the title by defeating Arsenal 1–0 in the final.^[1]^[2]

Format

The competition featured twenty-four teams: twelve from English league system and twelve invitees from other European countries. The teams were split into six groups of four - with two English league clubs per group. The group winners, and two best runners-up, progressed into the knockout phase of the tournament. The knockout matches were single leg fixtures.^[3]

All matches - including fixtures between non-English teams - were played in England and Wales.

Teams

English league system:

Other countries:

Group stage

Color key in group tables
Group winners and the two best runners-up advance to the quarterfinals

Group A

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Liverpool	3	2	1	5	2	+3	6
Newcastle United	3	2	1	6	4	+2	6
Sparta Prague	3	1	2	5	6	−1	3
PSV Eindhoven	3	1	2	5	9	−4	3

Source:

24 October 2017	Newcastle United	2–1	Sparta Prague	North Tyneside
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Brezina o.g.' (19) Barlaser 76'	Report	Drchal pen.' (62)	Stadium: Blue Flames Ground Attendance: 491 Referee: Mr M. Donohue

10 November 2017	Liverpool	2–1	Newcastle United	Birkenhead
19:00 GMT	Virtue 27' Ejaria 73'	Report 1 Report 2	Roberts 22'	Stadium: Prenton Park Referee: Daniel Middleton

28 November 2017	Liverpool	0–1	Sparta Prague	Birkenhead
19:00 GMT		Report 1 Report 2	Plavšić 86'	Stadium: Prenton Park Referee: Joe Hull

30 November 2017	PSV Eindhoven	4–3	Sparta Prague	Halewood
19:00 GMT	Malen 2' 61' Guðmundsson 31' Lammers 40'	Report 1 Report 2	Čmelík 16' Drchal 64' Köstl 66'	Stadium: Finch Farm

19 December 2017	Liverpool	3–0	PSV Eindhoven	Birkenhead
19:00 GMT	Brewster 11' Wilson 24' Brannagan Virtue 63'	Report 1 Report 2	Soulas	Stadium: Prenton Park Referee: Joe Hull

24 January 2018	Newcastle United	3–1	PSV Eindhoven	North Tyneside
19:00 GMT	Gallacher 22' Fernández 47' Roberts 79'	Report	Lundqvist 65'	Stadium: Blue Flames Ground Attendance: 262 Referee: Glen Hart

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Sunderland	3	2	1	0	5	1	+4	7
Leicester City	3	1	1	1	5	4	+1	4
Hertha Berlin	3	1	0	2	2	5	−3	3
Legia Warsaw	3	0	2	1	3	5	−2	2

Source:

27 September 2017	Leicester City	3–0	Hertha Berlin	Leicester
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Hughes 2' Johnson 40' Muskwe 47'	Report		Stadium: King Power Stadium Attendance: 434 Referee: P. Wright

10 October 2017	Sunderland	2–0	Hertha Berlin	Sunderland
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	McNair 42' Beadling 90' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Stadium of Light Referee: Bramall

15 November 2017	Sunderland	1–1	Legia Warsaw	Hetton-le-Hole
19:00 GMT	Nelson 87'	Report	Bartczak 33'	Stadium: Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground

29 November 2017	Legia Warsaw	0–2	Hertha Berlin	Woking
19:00 GMT		Report	Kade 64' Blumberg 88'	Stadium: Kingfield Stadium

14 December 2017	Leicester City	2–2	Legia Warsaw	Whetstone
19:00 GMT	Ndukwu 21' Knight 32'	Report 1 Report 2	Cichocki 10' Bondarenko 67'	Stadium: Holmes Park Attendance: 229^[4] Referee: Andrew Miller

23 January 2018	Sunderland	2–0	Leicester City	Sunderland
19:00 GMT	Connelly 35' Embleton 43'	Report		Stadium: Stadium of Light Referee: Karl Evans

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Dinamo Zagreb	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
Derby County	3	1	1	1	1	1	0	4
VfL Wolfsburg	3	1	0	2	5	5	0	3
Everton	3	0	2	1	1	3	−2	2

Source:

17 October 2017	Everton	1–3	VfL Wolfsburg	Southport
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Mathis 23'	Report	Saglam 59' El-Haibi 74' Blaz Kramer 85'	Stadium: Merseyrail Community Stadium

1 November 2017	Derby County	1–0	VfL Wolfsburg	Derby
19:00 GMT	Franke o.g.' (75)	Report		Stadium: Pride Park Stadium

29 November 2017	Dinamo Zagreb	3–2	VfL Wolfsburg	Aldershot
19:00 GMT	Knežević 39' Miklić 58' Stolnik 68' (pen.)	Report	Möbius 11' Kramer 63'	Stadium: Electric Services Stadium

5 December 2017	Derby County	0–0	Everton	Derby
19:00 GMT		Report 1 Report 2		Stadium: Pride Park Stadium

15 December 2017	Everton	0–0	Dinamo Zagreb	Southport
19:00 GMT		Report 1 Report 2	Endri Çekiçi	Stadium: Merseyrail Community Stadium Referee: Matt Donohue

19 December 2017	Derby County	0–1	Dinamo Zagreb	Burton-upon-Trent
19:00 GMT		Report	Ćuže 26'	Stadium: St George's Park

Group D

Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Manchester United	3	3	0	6	2	+4	9
Swansea City	3	1	2	7	4	+3	3
Athletic Bilbao	3	1	2	4	4	0	3
Celtic	3	1	2	2	9	−7	3

Source:

30 September 2017	Swansea City	6–0	Celtic	Landore
14:00 BST (UTC+1)	McBurnie 37' J. Fulton 49' Dyer 74' 84' James 80', 90'	Report		Stadium: Landore Training Ground

25 October 2017	Athletic Bilbao	1–2	Celtic	Woking
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Vicente 47'	Report Report 2 Report 3	Johnston 13' Bernaola og' (58)	Stadium: Kingfield Stadium Attendance: 250 Referee: Adrian Quelch

4 November 2017	Manchester United	2–1	Swansea City	Leigh
14:00 GMT	Wilson 59' (pen.) 67'	Report 1 Report 2	Gorré 90' (pen.)	Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Attendance: 1,009^[5] Referee: Johnson

15 November 2017	Manchester United	2–1	Athletic Bilbao	Leigh
19:00 GMT	Wilson 48' McTominay 81'	Report 1 Report 2 Report 3	Guruzeta 10'	Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Attendance: 854^[6] Referee: Simeon Lucas

2 December 2017	Manchester United	2–0	Celtic	Leigh
14:00 GMT	Wilson 28' 82'	Report 1 Report 2 Report 3		Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Attendance: 1,016^[7] Referee: David Richardson

20 December 2017	Swansea City	0–2	Athletic Bilbao	Landore
19:00 GMT	Marić 90' Garrick 90+3'	Report	Vicente 89' 90+1'	Stadium: Landore Training Ground Referee: Savvas Yianni

Group E

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Arsenal	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	7
Porto	3	2	0	1	3	1	+2	6
Bayern Munich	3	1	0	2	3	6	−3	3
Reading	3	0	1	2	0	3	−3	1

Source:

22 September 2017	Reading	0–2	Porto	Marchwood
19:00 BST (UTC+1)		Report 1 Report 2	Galeno 82' Pereira 90' (pen.)	Stadium: Staplewood Campus Attendance: BCD^[8] Referee: Savvas Yianni

17 November 2017	Arsenal	1–0	Porto	Borehamwood
19:00 GMT	Nelson 51'	Report 1 Report 2		Stadium: Meadow Park

30 November 2017	Arsenal	0–0	Reading	Borehamwood
19:00 GMT		Report 1 Report 2		Stadium: Meadow Park Referee: Alan Dale

8 December 2017	Reading	0–1	Bayern Munich	High Wycombe
19:00 GMT		Report	Tarnat 12'	Stadium: Adams Park Referee: Allan Young

23 January 2018	Arsenal	5–2	Bayern Munich	Borehamwood
19:00 GMT	Dragomir 30' Willock 36' Osei-Tutu 77' Reine-Adélaïde 78' Smith Rowe 84'	Report	Awoudja 48' Wriedt 60'	Stadium: Meadow Park Referee: Alan Dale

26 January 2018	Bayern Munich	0–1	Porto	Aldershot
19:00 GMT		Report	Pereira 45+1' (pen.)	Stadium: Electric Services Stadium Referee: Samuel Allison

Group F

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Villarreal	3	3	0	0	8	2	+6	9
Tottenham Hotspur	3	1	1	1	10	7	+3	4
Benfica	3	1	1	1	7	6	+1	4
West Ham United	3	0	0	3	2	12	−10	0

Source:

31 August 2017	Tottenham Hotspur	7–2	West Ham United	Stevenage
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Maghoma 11' Sterling 13', 63' Pritchard 51' Shashoua 59', 68' Duncan 65'	Report 1 Report 2	Scully 28' (pen.) Martínez 81' (pen.)	Stadium: Broadhall Way Attendance: 630 Referee: Alan Young

20 September 2017	Villarreal	3–2	Benfica	Lancing
19:00 BST (UTC+1)	Moreno 37' Montolio 86' Poveda 90'	Report	Tavares 48' Félix 87'	Stadium: Amex Elite Football Performance Centre Attendance: 400 Referee: Richard Hulme

4 October 2017	West Ham United	0–3	Villarreal	Dagenham
19:00 BST (UTC+1)		Report	Dalmau 1', 35', 68'	Stadium: Victoria Road

14 November 2017	Tottenham Hotspur	0–2	Villarreal	Stevenage
19:00 GMT		Report	Cedrés 30' Riera 45'	Stadium: Broadhall Way Attendance: 503^[9]

21 November 2017	West Ham United	0–2	Benfica	Billericay
19:00 GMT		Report 1 Report 2	Júnior 8', 26'	Stadium: AGP Arena

24 January 2018	Tottenham Hotspur	3–3	Benfica	Enfield
19:00 GMT	Tracey 39' Roles 50' Walkes 55'	Report	Félix 21' Tavares 46' Santos 79'	Stadium: Hotspur Way Referee: Alan Young

Ranking of second-placed teams

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Newcastle United	3	2	0	1	6	4	+2	6
Porto	3	2	0	1	3	1	+2	6
Tottenham Hotspur	3	1	1	1	10	7	+3	4
Leicester City	3	1	1	1	5	4	+1	4
Derby County	3	1	1	1	1	1	0	4
Swansea City	3	1	0	2	7	4	+3	3

Source:

Knockout stages

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Finals

Arsenal

2

Dinamo Zagreb

1

Arsenal

2 (P)

Villarreal

2

Manchester United

0

Villarreal

2

Arsenal

0

Porto

1

Sunderland

2

Newcastle United

2 (P)

Newcastle United

0

Porto

1

Liverpool

1

Porto

2

Quarter-finals

24 February 2018	Arsenal	2–1	Dinamo Zagreb	Borehamwood
14:00 GMT	Willock 28' Dasilva 89'	Report 1 Report 2	Miklić 75'	Stadium: Meadow Park Referee: Daniel Middleton

27 February 2018	Manchester United	0–2	Villarreal	Leigh
19:00 GMT		Report 1 Report 2	Dalmau 48' Pedrito 50'	Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Referee: Peter Gibbons

28 February 2018	Liverpool	1–2	Porto	Leigh^[10]
19:00 GMT	Virtue 33'	Report	Costa 58' Irala 90+6'	Stadium: Leigh Sports Village Attendance: BCD^[11]

7 March 2018	Sunderland	2–2 (a.e.t.) (10–11 p)	Newcastle United	Sunderland
19:00 GMT	Gooch 38' (pen.), 69'	Report 1 Report 2	Good 28' Roberts 90+2'	Stadium: Stadium of Light
	Penalties
	Hackett Embleton Hume Molyneux Diamond Gamble Galloway Robson Storey Mbunga-Kimpioka Stryjek Hackett		Charman Ben El-Mhanni Good Hunter Sangare Fernández Gallagher Smith Newberry Yarney Woolston Charman

Semi-finals

10 April 2018	Arsenal	2–2 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)	Villarreal	Holloway
19:00 BST	John-Jules 8' Gilmour 19' (pen.)	Report 1 Report 2	Dalmau 21' Franquesa 40'	Stadium: Emirates Stadium Attendance: 1,561 Referee: Alan Young
	Penalties
	Gilmour Dasilva Fortune Willock Medley		Quintillà Ibiza Chuca Mesa Pedrito

12 April 2018	Newcastle United	0–1	Porto	Newcastle upon Tyne
19:00 BST		Report 1 Report 2 Report 3	Reabciuk 89'	Stadium: St James' Park Attendance: 1,237 Referee: Mr P. Wright

Final

8 May 2018	Arsenal	0–1	Porto	Holloway
19:00 BST (UTC+1)		Report 1 Report 2	Queta 10'	Stadium: Emirates Stadium Attendance: 1,662 Referee: Thomas Bramall

References

^ "Dragons win in London". FC Porto. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
^ "Arsenal 0-1 Porto: How it happened". Arsenal F.C. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
^ "Premier League International Cup explained". Premier League. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
^ "display game". Doing the 92.
^ @lsvstadium (4 November 2017). "FULL TIME: @ManUtd 2 @SwansOfficial 1" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ @lsvstadium (15 November 2017). "FULL TIME: @ManUtd u23s 2 @Athletic_en 1" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ @lsvstadium (2 December 2017). "FULL TIME: @ManUtd 2 @celticfc 0" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ @ReadingFC (19 September 2017). "⚽️ Our U23s take on European giants @FCPorto behind closed doors in the @PremierLeague International Cup on Friday!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ "Spurs v Villarreal, (PL2 International Cup - 14.11.17)". Spurs Odyssey.
^ Match was moved to Leigh Sports Village from Prenton Park because of weather conditions
^ @LFC (28 February 2018). "Due to current weather conditions, #LFCU23s will now host @FCPorto in tonight's #PL International Cup quarter-final at Leigh Sports Village" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[1] "Dragons win in London". FC Porto. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.

[2] "Arsenal 0-1 Porto: How it happened". Arsenal F.C. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.

[3] "Premier League International Cup explained". Premier League. Retrieved 10 May 2018.

[4] "display game". Doing the 92.

[5] @lsvstadium (4 November 2017). "FULL TIME: @ManUtd 2 @SwansOfficial 1" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[6] @lsvstadium (15 November 2017). "FULL TIME: @ManUtd u23s 2 @Athletic_en 1" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[7] @lsvstadium (2 December 2017). "FULL TIME: @ManUtd 2 @celticfc 0" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[8] @ReadingFC (19 September 2017). "⚽️ Our U23s take on European giants @FCPorto behind closed doors in the @PremierLeague International Cup on Friday!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

[9] "Spurs v Villarreal, (PL2 International Cup - 14.11.17)". Spurs Odyssey.

[10] Match was moved to Leigh Sports Village from Prenton Park because of weather conditions

[11] @LFC (28 February 2018). "Due to current weather conditions, #LFCU23s will now host @FCPorto in tonight's #PL International Cup quarter-final at Leigh Sports Village" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

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