England Under-21 boss Lee Carsley threw down the gauntlet to Harvey Elliott after his brilliant brace.

The Liverpool midfielder scored twice as the Young Lions breezed past Northern Ireland 3-0 at Goodison Park.

Reds team-mate Tyler Morton, on loan at Hull, opened the scoring as Carsley’s men recorded a routine Euro 2025 qualifying win.

Elliott now has five goals in Group F, with England second behind Ukraine, and Carsley wants to see more of the same.

He said: “It’s important he keep scoring and assisting because he’s going to be that kind of player.

“His stats and data for us are very, very high in terms of his attacking actions around the box, the amount of chances he creates for other players but more importantly, his work rate and the way he presses the ball.

“He has to keep scoring and assisting, it’s a big part of his game. The most important thing for a lot of the players is just staying in the race.

“Making sure you keep yourself fit, making sure your attitude is in the right place and you’re trying to make yourself selectable.

“Then, when you get the opportunity, taking it. To be a young player and to play in the Premier League week in, week out is a big ask so making sure you’re putting yourself in a position to do that is a big thing.

“He’s come into camp looking really fit, really sharp. He’s doing the right things. That’s all he can do. When he’s come on for Liverpool he’s made a really good impact and I see that continuing.”

Morton opened the scoring after 31 minutes when he drilled in from the edge of the box as Northern Ireland finally buckled after a frustrating opening for the hosts.

They had to wait until five minutes after half-time for a second when Elliott curled a fine free-kick into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

The 20-year-old added a third with 10 minutes left, latching onto Morton’s pass and chipping goalkeeper Josh Clarke.

Carsley added: “You have to be patient and you have to keep probing. In the first 20 minutes I thought we were a little bit too safe.

“Once we got the first goal I thought we saw a different level.”

James McAtee’s brace inspired dominant England Under-21s to a routine 3-0 win in Serbia.

The Manchester City midfielder, on loan at Sheffield United, scored his first goals for the Young Lions.

Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott added a third early in the second half as England saw out their Euro 2025 qualifier on Saturday with minimum fuss, shrugging off last month’s rare defeat to Ukraine.

Lee Carsley’s side remain second, three points behind leaders Ukraine in Group F after their 4-0 win over Luxembourg on Friday.

England thumped Serbia 9-1 at the City Ground last month and were dominant from the start in Backa Topola.

It took just five minutes for the Young Lions to open the scoring when McAtee collected the ball on the edge of the area and his strike deflected off Mihajlo Ilic to loop over Veljko Ilic in goal.

Four minutes later Liam Delap came close to doubling the lead when he glanced Noni Madueke’s cross just wide.

But it was 2-0 after 19 minutes when McAtee received Hayden Hackney’s pass 20 yards out and drilled in, although Ilic should have done better.

England dominated the rest of the half without adding to their advantage but took just nine minutes of the second half to make it 3-0.

Elliott scored twice in the rout in Nottingham and got in on the act when he drilled into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

Striker Jay Stansfield, making his debut after a late call this week, hit the woodwork after a neat turn and strike with 13 minutes left and also went close late on.

Stansfield, on loan at Birmingham from Fulham, was denied a debut goal with three minutes remaining when he latched onto Madueke’s pass but saw his shot blocked.

Just seven of England’s European Under-21 Championship winners are in Lee Carsley’s latest squad as a new cycle begins.

The likes of Anthony Gordon, Morgan Gibbs-White, Emile Smith-Rowe and Jacob Ramsey are no longer eligible as the Young Lions kick off their qualifying process for the 2025 tournament against Luxembourg on September 11.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis, James Trafford, Jarrad Branthwaite, Charlie Cresswell, Harvey Elliott, new Chelsea signing Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke are those who remain from this summer’s successful tournament in Romania and Georgia.

Manchester City duo Rico Lewis and James McAtee are back in the squad following their absence in the summer while Carsley has included a host of players from the England Under-20s group in his 23-man squad.

Among those is Tottenham striker Dane Scarlett, while Borussia Dortmund striker Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Juventus forward Sam Iling-Junior are also included.

England Under-21s boss Lee Carsley hailed the cutting edge shown by his side in the opening minutes of their 2-0 victory over Germany in the European Under-21 Championship.

The Young Lions hit the front after just four minutes when Cameron Archer latched onto a threaded pass from Jacob Ramsey before slotting the ball past Noah Atubolu, and they made it 2-0 with 21 minutes on the clock as Harvey Elliott scored a superb solo effort.

England secured a quarter-final date with Portugal on Sunday by topping the group with three straight 2-0 wins over their group-stage opponents, while holders Germany were sent crashing out.

Carsley told UEFA.com: “We were fortunate to take our chances. Germany had some really good chances but didn’t take them. We’re really happy with the result but more importantly the performance.

“We thought it was a really difficult game. We knew preparing for the game that it was going to be a tough one.

“We were lucky enough to play Germany in one of the international windows in a friendly. We knew the quality that they had. Tactically they’re very difficult to break down and you’ve seen that in the game today.”

England have yet to concede a goal in the tournament having kept three straight clean sheets, and Carsley praised the performance of his defensive unit.

He continued: “We talk about the whole team defending, as opposed to just the defence.

“I thought Levi (Colwill) and Taylor (Harwood-Bellis) as well as Jarrad (Branthwaite) and Charlie (Cresswell) have done outstandingly at centre-back, and obviously James (Trafford) in goal.

“As a whole, we’ve defended really well from full-back areas, with midfielders and forwards. It was really pleasing to see, right at the end of the game, players making blocks on the edge of the box and blocking crosses. It’s good to see.”

Folarin Balogun would be a "great addition" to the United States team, but Arsenal's Matt Turner only wants the striker to make the switch if it "comes from the heart".

Arsenal forward Balogun has excelled on loan with Reims this season, scoring 17 goals in 27 Ligue 1 appearances – behind only Jonathan David and Kylian Mbappe (both 19).

The 21-year-old's excellent form has prompted talk of a tussle for his international allegiance, with the New York-born star eligible to represent England, the United States and Nigeria.

Balogun has been a mainstay in the England Under-21 set-up, but he withdrew from the squad for this month's internationals due to injury.

That development has led to fresh hope Balogun will pledge himself to the USMNT, and Turner confirmed he had spoken to his Gunners team-mate on the matter.

"I spoke to Flo. We obviously had most of our preseason together, and I knew going into it he had some roots in the USA," the goalkeeper said on Wednesday.

"So, he and I developed a relationship pretty quickly. That's pretty much the extent of it. We check in on each other here and there.

"He'd be a great addition to our national team. I think he's done really well, obviously, for his club on loan, and we'll see.

"The decision has to come from the heart, because it's not necessarily an easy task to come and play in these CONCACAF games. It's a tough region at times.

"So, for us, we'd be really grateful to have him, but his heart needs to be in it."

Earlier in the week, Balogun told Sky Sports he was yet to decide on his future but has aspirations of playing at the highest level.

"My international future is not decided yet in terms of who I'll play for," he said. "But of course I want to play international football at the highest level, in the World Cups, and I want to compete at the highest level.

"I want to put myself in positions where I'm performing in front of millions of people."

Anthony Gordon insists he was never "desperate to leave Everton" after being linked with a move to Chelsea in the recent transfer window.

Reports claimed Chelsea were willing to pay up to £60million to prise the 21-year-old away from Goodison Park, while Tottenham and Newcastle United were also rumoured to be interested.

However, the move never materialised and Gordon has enjoyed a promising start to the season for the Toffees, scoring twice in their opening seven matches.

And while the forward expected speculation over a possible exit, he was never the one pushing for a move.

"That's [speculation] part and parcel of football," Gordon told reporters.

"When you're doing well there's always going to be speculation. But the place is so good that it's never been a case of being desperate to leave Everton.

"We're in a completely different place to last year. It's class, the morale is unbelievable and I couldn't speak highly enough of it. We've made really good signings, people and players. There's just a feel-good [feeling] around the place.

"I like playing with pressure. I feel I thrive on it. If I want to be a top player, I have to do that regardless. I feel I’ve handled it well, but I can still score more goals and stuff."

Gordon featured for England Under-21s against Germany on Tuesday, playing a part in two goals in a 3-1 victory.

And Gordon's sights are firmly set on making the squad for the senior side's upcoming World Cup campaign, even if he accepts he has plenty of work to do.

He added: "If I didn't have that ambition [to make the squad for Qatar], I'd be a bit stupid.

"They're always auditions, particularly in the Under-21s. But I understand the squad is so good it's going to be tough to get in.

"I'm 100 per cent focused on making the World Cup squad. If it doesn't happen, it's out of my control but I'll give it my best try. To get there, I'm going to need to score a lot of goals but I'm ready for the challenge and hopeful."

Brighton and Hove Albion right-back Tariq Lamptey is "considering" playing for Ghana instead of England at international level, according to England Under-21 manager Lee Carsley.

Former Brighton boss Chris Hughton was appointed technical director of the Ghana national team in February, and is reported to have proposed that Lamptey declare for the Black Stars ahead of the World Cup later this year.

The 21-year-old has made two appearances for England's U21 team, but is yet to feature at senior level.

Lamptey has struggled with injuries this season, making only 32 appearances for Brighton (18 starts) in all competitions, and was not named in either Gareth Southgate's latest senior Three Lions squad, or Carsley's U21 squad for upcoming games.

"There's an issue over his dual nationality," Carsley said, as reported by The Athletic. "He's had an approach. It’s something he’s considering at the minute.

"He's asked to be left out of the squad for a bit of head space. He's not switched, it’s not cemented or anything like that. But he's had an approach. We have to respect that.

"We've made it clear how important we see him to us. I know the seniors have as well. It's not something that we've given up on. Tariq is fully aware of how important we see him.

"To be fair, I have rang him every day. I probably shouldn't have, I probably pushed him. You can only make it clear so many times.

"I wouldn't say we've done as much as we can, but he knows where we stand with him. I think we have to respect now that he's got a decision to make. Not only with himself, but with his family."

Ghana face Madagascar and Central African Republic next month in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, with Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah also rumoured to be someone who could declare for them soon.

Meanwhile, Nketiah's club team-mate Emile Smith-Rowe was named in Carsley's squad for the UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifiers, despite having played for the senior team. 

England have appointed Lee Carsley as their new Under-21 head coach, with former Chelsea star Ashley Cole named as his assistant.

Carsley is promoted from his role with the England Under-20 team to replace Aidy Boothroyd, who has left after almost five years in the position.

Cole won 107 caps in an illustrious playing career and will be the chief support to Carsley, combining the position with his role as a coach in Chelsea's academy.

"I'm really happy to get this opportunity to support Lee and work with the best youngsters in the country," said Cole, who began his coaching career with Derby County.
 
"I loved playing for the national team and to now get the chance to work as an England coach is a special feeling. 

"St. George's Park is an amazing place and I can't wait to get started. I want to do my best to help young players to develop, and also learn from some brilliant people at the same time."

Boothroyd left the Under-21 job on a disappointing note after failing to progress through the group stage of this year's European Championship.

He had taken the role, initially on a caretaker basis, in 2016 after Gareth Southgate was promoted to the senior team.

The new regime will start with matches against Romania and Kosovo in September.

FA technical director John McDermott added: "I'm very happy to be able to confirm Lee's appointment, and to be able to bring in someone of Ashley's stature as his number two, with thanks to Chelsea for their support."

Former Arsenal and Chelsea defender Cole, 40, has also worked as a television pundit since retiring as a player with Derby in 2019.

Croatia ended England's European Under-21 Championship campaign in dramatic fashion as they joined Denmark, France and Portugal in qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Portugal finished top of Group D with a 100 per cent record, a convincing 3-0 result against Switzerland making it three wins from three during their campaign in Slovenia.

Diogo Queiros gave his country a third-minute lead and while the Swiss pushed hard for a response, they conceded twice in the space of five second-half minutes to end their hopes of reaching the knockout stages.

Barcelona forward Francisco Trincao doubled the advantage for Portugal, who then quickly put the game out of reach thanks to Francisco Conceicao.

England also appeared set to progress when leading 2-0 as their game with Croatia entered added time in Koper on Wednesday.

Following Eberechi Eze's early penalty, Curtis Jones produced a crisp low finish in the 74th minute to leave England on course for just the result they needed to wrap up second place.

However, Domagoj Bradaric changed the scenario completely – and in some style, too. His left-footed drive from long range gave goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale no chance and meant England had little time to respond. Instead of ending up in second, the result means they finish bottom of the table.

Group C did not quite provide the same level of drama, Denmark sealing top spot as they eased to a 3-0 victory against Russia, meaning they finish on nine points.

Jacob Bruun Larsen and Anders Dreyer were on target in successive first-half minutes, while Carlo Holse rounded out the scoring in the closing stages for Denmark, who did not concede during the round-robin stage.

France, meanwhile, were 2-0 winners against Iceland thanks to first-half goals from Matteo Guendouzi and Odsonne Edouard.

Les Bleus will meet Netherlands in the knockout phase when the tournament resumes at the end of May, while Denmark will go up against Germany.

Spain are due to face Croatia and Portugal will tussle with Italy in the other side of the quarter-final draw.

England Under-21s boss Aidy Boothroyd has claimed he has an "utterly impossible job", with his team on the verge of an exit from Euro 2021.

Boothroyd's youngsters have lost their first two group matches in the rearranged tournament, to Switzerland and Portugal respectively.

The defeats have left England needing to beat Croatia by at least two goals on Wednesday, while hoping that Portugal overcome Switzerland, to reach the quarter-finals, which take place later this year.

Jadon Sancho, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mason Mount, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden are among the star names Boothroyd could have had at his disposal for the competition, though all of them are now seen as senior players, with only Liverpool full-back Alexander-Arnold not selected in Gareth Southgate's squad for this month's World Cup qualifiers.

Nevertheless, Boothroyd has still been able to call upon several players who are regulars for Premier League teams, though one of those – Chelsea's Callum Hudson-Odoi – has suffered an injury and will miss the Croatia clash.

There has been doubt over Boothroyd's position, with England U21s having failed to make it out of the group in the 2019 Euros, after falling out in the semi-finals in 2017, but the former Watford manager has defended his work.

"I know the senior men's job has been called the impossible job but the U21s is the utterly impossible job," he told reporters.

"The reason is the amount of players who have to be produced for the senior team and we are expected to win.

"There's a reason why we haven't won this for 37 years and why we haven't progressed as much as we thought we would, because our primary aim is to get players through to Gareth [Southgate].

"Could you imagine a reserve-team manager knocking on the door of a senior manager at a club and saying 'listen boss, I think today you should let me have the best player to win the reserve championship'. That just wouldn't happen.

"The only team that needs to win is the senior team. Everywhere else, winning is part of it, drawing is part of it and having adversity is part of it.

"The reason I say that it is the utterly impossible job is because new players come in, younger players come in and the wheel starts again.

"My job isn't to say to Gareth we should have Jude, Phil or Mason, it is about the senior team and it always will be.

"If someone is doing this job and hiding players and not allowing them to go forward then the system is flawed. I don't want to be the whinge bag to defend myself. They are facts but they are what the job is."

Boothroyd replaced Southgate as U21 boss, with the now England manager having impressed the FA during his stint in charge of the youth team.

Asked for his view on the U21s' disappointing campaign, Southgate told a news conference: "I think it's a difficult balance. Nobody really thinks about the U21s until you get to the finals, then you are judged.

"It's development football, although those players are good players, they're normally surrounded by experienced players. When they are playing as an age-group together, it's a different challenge.

"It's always difficult to be U21 head coach. The timing of this tournament, coinciding with World Cup qualifiers. We want to try to win tournaments, we've benefited from that when the U17s and U20s won the World Cup.

"But development football throws up all sorts of things. I went to a European Championship, we had a fantastic game with Portugal that we lost. You never know what generation the other countries have got. When the results don't go your way, you find out so much about the players."

France got off the mark at the European Under-21 Championship with a 2-0 win over Russia, while a second successive loss for England leaves them on the brink of elimination.

Les Bleuets went down 1-0 to Denmark in their tournament opener but responded with a routine win in Szombathely on Sunday through a pair of first-half penalties.

Odsonne Edouard won and converted the first of the spot-kicks after 15 minutes and Jonathan Ikone added a second from 12 yards with a precise Panenka.

Defeat for France would have knocked them out of the competition, but some good goalkeeping from Alban Lafont kept their two-goal margin intact and they live to fight on.

England's hopes of progressing to the semi-finals later this year were dealt another huge blow, however, as they suffered a 2-0 defeat against Portugal in Ljubljana.

Aidy Boothroyd's side, who lost 1-0 to Switzerland in their opener, failed to muster a single shot on target versus Portugal and now require a helping hand in the final set of games.

A goal-line clearance from Ben Godfrey denied Portugal an early breakthrough, but their persistence paid off as they found the net for the 30th U21 Euros match running.

Dani Carvalho rounded off a counter with a low curler away from Aaron Ramsdale into the bottom corner and substitute Francisco Trincao converted a penalty 10 minutes later.

England now need to beat Croatia, who edged out Switzerland 3-2 earlier on Sunday, in their next match and hope Portugal beat the Swiss in Wednesday's other group clash.

Croatia were made to work hard for their victory at SRC Bonifika - their first ever in the competition - after seeing their three-goal lead reduced to just one in a thrilling contest.

Luka Ivanusec opened the scoring early on against the run of play and they were cruising when Nikola Moro and Dario Vizinger added quickfire goals shortly after the hour mark - the former from the penalty spot.

But there was to be some late drama as substitute Kastriot Imeri scored from the penalty spot and Sandro Kulenovic put into his own net.

Switzerland nearly snatched an incredible comeback point, only for Dominik Kotarski to deny Alexandre Jankewitz with a big save in added time.

Denmark were 2-0 winners against Iceland in Sunday's early kick-off, meanwhile, thanks to goals from Gustav Isaksen and Mads Bech in the first 18 minutes.

Oliver Christensen kept out a Sveinn Aron Gudjohnsen penalty before half-time and Iceland failed to put up much of a fight from that point on.

The Danes are three points clear of France and Wednesday's opponents Russia, while Iceland are without a point but could still advance if results go their way next week.

England and France suffered 1-0 defeats to Switzerland and Denmark respectively in their opening 2021 European Under-21 Championship fixtures on Thursday.

Switzerland were appearing at the tournament for a first time in a decade and edged a narrow win in Group D thanks to Dan Ndoye's fortuitous second-half strike.

England have failed to make it past the group stage in four of the past five tournaments and have left themselves with an uphill struggle to secure one of the two spots for the knockout phase.

Aidy Boothroyd's side created precious few goalscoring opportunities with a long-range attempt from Tom Davies and Callum Hudson-Odoi's free-kick their best attempts, only once hitting the target.

Ndoye sealed the win for Switzerland 13 minutes from time as the ball rebounded off his standing foot then looped over England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

Elsewhere in that pool, Portugal earned a hard-fought 1-0 win over Croatia after substitute Fabio Viera scored the only goal of the game.

Portugal had the best of the chances with Croatia goalkeeper Adrian Semper forced to make three saves before Viera came off the bench to net the winner.

France, who reached the semi-finals of the 2019 tournament, were left to rue missed chances in their defeat to Denmark as Amine Gouiri was twice denied and Boubacar Kamara curled wide.

Denmark had just 34.3 per cent of the possession and only three shots but crucially scored in the 75th minute when Anders Dreyer rounded Alban Lafont before scoring following a superb defence-splitting pass from Jacob Bruun Larsen.

Russia top Group C, though, after an emphatic 4-1 win over Iceland that included an impressive display by 17-year-old debutant Arsen Zakharyan.

Fedor Chalov, who finished with three assists from four chances created, opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Zakharyan had been tripped.

Nayair Tiknizyan notched Russia's second and then Zakharyan scored the pick of the goals with a fine sole strike on the stroke of half-time before Denis Makarov added the fourth with a low finish.

Sveinn Aron Gudjohnsen, son of ex-Chelsea and Barcelona forward Eidur, headed in a consolation goal for Iceland with only their second attempt just before the hour mark.

England's best hopes for a trophy in 2021 might just be their Under-21 squad.

Aidy Boothroyd's youngsters head into the group stage of the Euro Under-21 finals as legitimate contenders for the trophy, despite being placed in a seriously tough group with Croatia, Portugal and Switzerland.

History is against England, too. They have reached the finals for eight consecutive tournaments but have only progressed from the group stages three times in that sequence. Since winning the trophy in 1984, they have reached the final only once, in 2009, where they lost to Germany.

Still, Boothroyd is undoubtedly blessed with a rich pool of talent, despite leaving out stars such as Phil Foden, Reece James and Jude Bellingham, who will all be involved in the senior side's World Cup qualifiers this month. There is a strength in depth to the Young Lions that should give them real hope of going all the way.

Perhaps the current crop can also buck the trend when it comes to breaking into the senior fold. Only 17 of the 48 players from the previous two Euro Under-21 squads have gone on to play for the full England side, and only Jordan Pickford could consider himself a regular there.

In short, this undoubtedly talented group has plenty to play for…

Max-imum opportunity

In front of keeper Aaron Ramsdale, who was in goal for all but one of their qualifiers, sits an encouraging defence.

Norwich City full-back Max Aarons has not only kept 15 clean sheets with the Championship leaders, but his attacking threat has been marked this season. Aarons has created 51 chances from open play and completed 52 dribbles, both the second-best figures among defenders in the competition. At the same time, Aarons has only been beaten by an opponent's dribble 13 times, the lowest number among the top nine of that particular group of attack-minded defenders. Little wonder he is a reported target for Bayern Munich and Everton, among others.

Japhet Tanganga of Tottenham is untested at this level but Jose Mourinho's young protege will not have far to look for a (relatively) experienced guide. Spurs' Ryan Sessegnon, one of just two England players who also played at the 2019 finals, has enjoyed an impressive loan spell at Hoffenheim this season, winning more tackles per 90 minutes (1.7) than anyone else for the Bundesliga side. He has also contributed two goals and two assists – only five Bundesliga defenders have had more direct goal involvements.

There's Rowe stopping him

Arguably England's most in-form young midfielder outside the senior squad has amazingly never played before for the Under-21s.

Emile Smith Rowe has been the big success story of Mikel Arteta's time in charge of Arsenal. Since the start of last season, as well as scoring twice and registering six assists, he has created 1.5 chances from open play per 90 minutes in all competitions, the best number among Gunners midfielders to start at least 10 matches in that time.

In 2020-21, Smith Rowe (nine) is second only to Mason Mount (14) for players 23 and under in the Premier League when it comes to multi-chance involvements – the number of unique shot-ending sequences in open play where a player both creates the chance and is involved in the build-up.

Exactly how Boothroyd deploys Smith Rowe remains to be seen, but he could offer a potent combination with rising Liverpool star Curtis Jones, a major plus in an otherwise troubled Premier League title defence for Jurgen Klopp.

Jones, the youngest Liverpool player to score in the Premier League away from Anfield in seven years, averages the most successful final-third passes (22.5) this season of any Reds player to feature in at least half of their league games.

Among Premier League midfielders in this age group this season, only Mount (nine) has been involved in more sequences that ended in them taking a shot at goal than Jones (seven) – and the Liverpool man has played fewer than half the minutes of the Chelsea star.

On the wings, Callum Hudson-Odoi might have experience of playing for England at the highest level, but a strong performance at these championships could be just what he needs as he begins to build up the trust of Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel. Since the German took charge on January 26, no Blues player has played more games (13) than Hudson-Odoi and only two have created more chances per 90 minutes (1.71). His directness down the wing could be a major asset: among players 23 or under in the Premier League, only Ferran Torres (0.59) has a better rating than Hudson-Odoi (0.55) when it comes to Expected Assists from a take-on.

Madueke's chance to shine

With Mason Greenwood having withdrawn due to injury, much of the goalscoring burden may fall on the Under-21s' all-time top marksman, Eddie Nketiah.

Arsenal's young striker has one goal in three league starts this season and three in six in the Europa League, but the international stage is where he really shines: 13 goals in nine qualifying games helped him become the Young Lions' record goalscorer, surpassing Alan Shearer.

If Nketiah should struggle for form, Boothroyd can turn to Noni Madueke. An unknown at this level on the international scene, Ruud van Nistelrooy's PSV pupil has 11 direct goal involvements in the Eredivisie this season – no teenager has more – with his seven goals coming in just six starts in the Dutch top flight, at an average of just over one for every four non-penalty shots.

It's entirely possible the staging of the 2021 European Under-21 Championship will have passed many people by, given the fact it's taken on a somewhat peculiar format of a mid-season group stage with the knockout phase following two months later.

Originally due to take place solely in June, organisers were forced into a re-think following last year's postponement of the senior competition. It was decided to split the Under-21s' event in two, therefore avoiding a clash.

Despite the rather unconventional format, the competition will see many of the continent's most-promising prodigies on display.

The tournament, based in Hungary and Slovenia, begins on Wednesday with the Magyars hosting Germany, and we have identified some high-potential talents to keep an eye on.

Alban Lafont, France – Goalkeeper

Lafont has been a regular at this age-group level with France for many years, but a brief stint at Fiorentina in 2018-19 did not go to plan, with the Toulouse youth product freely admitting his performances "were not the best" as he secured to a loan move to Nantes ahead of last season.

Only Andrea Consigli (six) made more than Lafont's four errors leading to shots in Serie A two seasons ago, but his dependability appears to have improved considerably since returning to France, with no shots occurring because of errors by him in 57 Ligue 1 matches.

He also produced a particularly strong performance in the shock 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month, making four saves including a couple of eye-catching stops to thwart Angel Di Maria.

A closer at Lafont’s performances for a struggling Nantes side in 2020-21 reveals he has not had the greatest campaign. When discounting own goals and penalties by the opposition, Lafont has allowed 3.5 goals more than the ‘average’ goalkeeper would have been expected to concede in Ligue 1 this season (37 conceded, 33.5 xG on target).

The metric ‘Goals Prevented Rate’ can account for different goalkeepers facing a different volume of shots through a period of time. An example of this is that PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas has a goals prevented rate of 1.37 this season, meaning for every non-penalty goal that Navas has conceded (excluding own goals), the average goalkeeper would be expected to concede 1.37. Lafont’s rate of 0.91 this season is 10th out of 17 goalkeepers to have played 1800 minutes of French top-flight football in 2020-21.

Additionally, France's regular at this level knows he has a very capable understudy in Illan Meslier breathing down his neck.

Prior to his 21st birthday earlier in the month, Meslier broke the record for the most clean sheets by an under-21 goalkeeper in a single Premier League season (eight) and has since added another to that figure.

That means he has three times as many shutouts as Lafont, which is intriguing because it raises the question of why then has Meslier not conceded fewer goals?

For starters, it suggests Lafont is more consistent but also highlights that when Leeds concede, the floodgates can really burst open. With those 46 goals spread across 19 matches, it means Meslier is conceding on average 2.5 goals per game when he doesn't get a clean sheet – this drops to 1.7 for Lafont.

On top of that, Meslier's seven errors leading to shots is more than any other player in the Premier League this term, perhaps showing he's still in the inexperienced, nervous phase that Lafont has seemingly left behind.

Meslier's superior save percentage of 71.1 compared to 65.7 speaks to the former Lorient youngster's shot-stopping abilities, though for the time being Lafont's greater consistency looks set to keep him first-choice.

Sven Botman, Netherlands – Central Defender

A promising loan spell with Heerenveen last season alerted Lille to the talents of Ajax-owned Botman and he has been a real hit for Les Dogues since a reported €8m move, helping them to mount a serious Ligue 1 title challenge.

Lille's 19 goals conceded is the fewest in France's top tier and, while not necessarily entirely down to Botman, there's no doubt he's made his presence known as a reliable powerhouse at the back.

Of the 856 players across Europe's top five leagues to have engaged in at least 150 duels, Botman's 71.4 per cent success rate is the best, and that competitiveness is also reflected in his aerial prowess.

Only four of the 157 players in the continent's elite divisions to have been involved in 100+ aerial duels have a better success rate than the Dutch youngster (72.5 per cent).

While his impressive physical attributes might lead to certain assumptions about his style of play, Botman is more than a brutish centre-back, as proven by the fact his 452 ball carries – defined as a player moving five metres or more with the ball – is the fourth highest among Ligue 1 central defenders.

Of course, there is likely to be a glaring absence from the senior Dutch side at Euro 2020. with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp not expecting Virgil van Dijk to be ready for the tournament.

That means there is potentially a spot up for grabs in the centre of the Netherlands defence, and Botman's combination of power and elegance suggests he could be a good fit as Van Dijk's deputy.

Granted, the young defender – who hasn't been capped at senior level yet – still has a way to go to match up to the Reds star, but in the context of young defenders of a similar ilk, Botman certainly compares well and his strengths are similar to those of Van Dijk.

His aerial stats prove he's an excellent physical specimen, and his effectiveness in duels reflects the fact he's a difficult defender to beat. A strong showing here might just help convince Frank de Boer that Botman's ready to step up later this year.

Jules Kounde, France – Central Defender

Les Bleus are blessed with an embarrassment of riches in most areas, but the fact Kounde is turning out for the Under-21s in this tournament instead of the senior side exemplifies their depth in quality at the heart of the defence.

In his second full season with Sevilla, Kounde has kicked on following a hugely encouraging second half to 2019-20, so much so that he's arguably the first name on the team sheet for Julen Lopetegui.

His forward-thinking nature has made him key to the coach's 'Lavolpiana build-up' defensive structure, a setup attributed to Argentinian coach Ricardo La Volpe that essentially demands centre-backs carry the ball forward from a three-man backline.

Only two central defenders in La Liga have bettered Kounde's rate of 19.2 carries per 90, while there are just three who have covered more distance carrying the ball further up field than the Frenchman this term (2,774 metres).

This positivity is generally offset by Fernando dropping in to form a faux back three, while Kounde's movement up the right can often create overloads as he teams up with Jesus Navas, Sevilla's biggest chance creator (44).

But evidence of his progressive mentality doesn't stop there. While possessional stats can often be skewed for centre-backs, given the sheer number of simple short balls played between defensive colleagues, Kounde is clearly looking ahead, and often.

No defender has been successful with more forward passes in open play than Kounde this season in LaLiga (507), with the 22-year-old completing an impressive 79 per cent of these. Therefore, perhaps it's not surprising to learn no Sevilla player has been involved in more shot-ending build-up sequences than he has (53), demonstrating his value to their forays forward, despite not attempting the shots or making the final pass in that move.

Kounde is a prime example of how centre-backs can be just as satisfying to see in possession as your classic playmakers – in fact, that is essentially what he is developing into, a defensive playmaker of the ilk who would have looked at home in the great Barcelona teams of the past 14 years.

Pedro Goncalves, Portugal – Attacking Midfielder

It's fair to say that, when Sporting CP set out to replace Bruno Fernandes, never in their wildest dreams would they have expected what they got. Pedro Goncalves had been a key figure for Famalicao in 2019-20, but to say he's surpassed expectations in Lisbon would be an understatement.

Goncalves operates in similar spaces to Fernandes, albeit drifting towards the right a little more, and his hot streak in front of goal has helped put Sporting on course for a first league title since 2001-02.

In 22 Primeira Liga matches, the attacking midfielder has scored 15 goals – none of which were penalties. The 22-year-old's xG total is just 6.9, meaning his over-performance of 8.1 is the biggest across Europe's top six leagues, aside from the phenomenal Robert Lewandowski (9.3).

Of course, the chances of him being able to sustain such a run in the long-term are low, but it still highlights what a danger the former Wolves youngster poses in his current form.

Comparisons with Fernandes have been rife, for obvious reasons, but they show many different traits to their game.

In Fernandes' final 50 league games for Sporting, he averaged 3.4 shots per 90 minutes and 2.3 of those non-penalty shots came from outside the box – Goncalves attempts 2.6 on average each game, with only 1.1 coming from beyond the penalty area.

As such, the average quality of Fernandes' shots in his final 50 games for Sporting weren't outstanding, with his xG per non-penalty shot equating to 0.07. Goncalves' is almost double that at 0.13, suggesting he picks his moments more selectively while also taking fewer attempts.

Nevertheless, despite Fernandes' penchant for a long-range effort, he only scored four times from outside the box in his final 50 league matches for Sporting – Goncalves already has three this term from 28 fewer games.

The biggest difference between the pair is assists. Fernandes' 20 in his final 50 outings for Sporting dwarfs Goncalves' three in 2020-21, but interestingly their expected assists per 90 minutes isn't hugely dissimilar. Fernandes is ahead 0.29 to 0.20 in this area, but a potential explanation for this potentially lies in the respective teams they've played in.

The next highest-scorer for Sporting this season after Goncalves himself is Nuno Santos with six – they don't have a prolific centre-forward, whereas Fernandes was supplying Bas Dost, who netted 76 times in 84 league games for the club between 2016 and 2019.

As we all know now, Fernandes was on the trajectory of an elite-level player. He's proven this at Manchester United, though there were certainly those who were sceptical about him prior to his move.

It'll be a tough ask, but why can't Goncalves continue to defy expectations?

Fedor Chalov, Russia - Forward

Russian striker Fedor Chalov is undoubtedly one of the most experienced players involved at the tournament, with the 22-year-old having already played 115 Russian Premier League matches in addition to his 11 UEFA Champions League appearances.

Chalov burst on to the scene in Russia with CSKA Moscow at 18 years old back in November 2016 and scored in just his fifth top-flight appearance for the club versus Ural a month later.

After scoring six goals in each of his opening two league seasons at CSKA, 2018-19 was when he really began to make a name for himself in Russia - winning the league's top scorer award with 15 goals, while also posting his best-ever season tally for assists (7).

But Chalov's career hasn't kicked on as expected since then, scoring just 13 goals in 50 top-flight appearances over the past two seasons, but his performances have been stirring enough to attract the attentions of multiple Premier League clubs during the January transfer window.

Despite this, Chalov's numbers domestically at top-tier level are mightily impressive for a player so early in his career. Despite only being 22, Chalov's tally of 60 goal involvements since his Russian Premier League debut are the third most by a player in the competition.

Russia are certainly one of the underdogs for the 2021 Under-21 European Championship and are unlikely to top their group, having been drawn alongside favourites France. However, if Chalov can find form in the first stage of the tournament then he could be the linchpin to Russian hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages in May.