This Sunday sees the first major domestic cup final of the season take place in England as five time winners of the trophy, Aston Villa, take on six-time winners and current holders Manchester City in what promises to be an intriguing Carabao Cup Final at Wembley.
Having beaten Arsenal in 2018 and then Chelsea on penalties last year, City are aiming to make it three in a row in this competition, and if they win, they would have won the tournament five times in a seven year period. Aston Villa are aiming to land their first win since 1996, when they were deserved winners over Leeds United.
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Let’s now take a look ahead to the game on Sunday with a quick look through the history of the Football League Cup, some of its most successful teams and then we will bring you our preview of how we see Sunday’s clash between Manchester City and Aston Villa turning out.
A Brief History of the Football League Cup
The Football League Cup has been known as many different things in its 60 years of existence, currently it is the Carabao Cup, but it has had almost as many names as it has had winners over that period. First devised by Alan Hardaker, the competition was first contested in 1960 and Aston Villa were the first ever winners of the tournament, defeating Rotherham United in the final.
After being given an initial lukewarm reception by top teams, the tournament began to grow in popularity a short time after and by 1967, the final became a single leg affair played at Wembley (after initially being played over two legs). QPR won the first Wembley final, defeating West Brom 3-2, a year after the Baggies had won the trophy against West Ham.
Liverpool are the most successful team in the competition’s history reaching 12 finals and winning eight of those. The full list of winners is as follows:
- Liverpool – 8
- Manchester City – 6
- Manchester United, Aston Villa, Chelsea – 5
- Tottenham, Nottingham Forest – 4
- Leicester City – 3
- Arsenal, Norwich City, Birmingham City, Wolves – 2
- WBA, QPR, Middlesbrough, Leeds Utd, Stoke City, Luton Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Swindon Town, Oxford United, Blackburn Rovers and Swansea City – 1
Manchester City are aiming to emulate Liverpool in being the only team to win the trophy in three successive years, having won it in both 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. Liverpool actually won four trophies in a row from 1981 to 1984.
The man of the match in the final wins the Alan Hardaker trophy, which has been lifted by players like Bernardo Silva, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Vincent Kompany and Samir Nasri in recent times.
2020 Carabao Cup Final
Aston Villa v Manchester City
The 60th Football League Cup Final details are outlined below.
- Venue – Wembley Stadium
- Capacity – 90,000
- Date – Sunday 1st March 2020
- Kick Off – 4.30pm
- Live on – Sky Sports
The Road to Wembley
Aston Villa
- First Round – Bye
- Second Round – Crewe 1-6 Aston Villa (Konsa, Hourihane 2, Davis, Guilbert, Grealish)
- Third Round – Brighton 1-3 Aston Villa (Jota, Hourihane, Grealish)
- Fourth Round – Aston Villa 2-1 Wolves (El Ghazi, Elmohamady)
- Quarter Final – Aston Villa 5-0 Liverpool (Hourihane, Boyes OG, Kodjia 2, Wesley)
- Semi Final 1st Leg – Leicester City 1-1 Aston Villa (Guilbert)
- Semi Final 2nd Leg – Aston Villa 2-1 Leicester (Targett, Trezeguet) (Villa win 3-2 on agg)
Aston Villa have certainly not had the easiest of routes into the final, having had to beat four Premier League sides en-route to the final, and also playing an extra round of games compared to Man City. Having beaten Crewe in that second round, Villa then knocked out Brighton, Wolves, Liverpool and then Leicester City (the latter over two legs) in a dramatic semi final where Trezeguet’s late late goal saw Villa progress to the final.
Manchester City
- First Round – Bye
- Second Round – Bye
- Third Round – Preston 0-3 Man City (Sterling, Jesus, Ledson OG)
- Fourth Round – Man City 3-1 Southampton (Otamendi, Aguero 2)
- Quarter Final – Oxford Utd 1-3 Man City (Cancelo, Sterling 2)
- Semi Final 1st Leg – Man Utd 1-3 Man City (Silva, Mahrez, Pereira OG)
- Semi Final 2nd Leg – Man City 0-1 Man Utd (City win 3-2 on aggregate)
Having qualified for the Champions League, Manchester City earned a bye into the third round of the tournament and there they beat Preston comfortably before winning their next three games by a 3-1 scoreline against Southampton, Oxford and in the first leg of the semi-final, away to Manchester United. A 1-0 home defeat to United did blot their copybook somewhat, but even so City progressed on aggregate into their third final in a row and their fifth final appearance in the last seven years.
Probable Teams:
- Aston Villa – 5-4-1 – Reina, Hause, Mings, Konsa, Targett, Guilbert, Luiz, Hourihane, El Ghazi, Grealish, Samatta
- Manchester City – 4-3-3 – Ederson, Walker, Mendy, Laporte, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Foden, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Sterling, Aguero
Carabao Cup Final Tips
In truth, when you consider that Manchester City defeated Aston Villa 6-1 in the Premier League just a few weeks ago, not too long after defeating them comfortably at home, the chances of a Villa upset to land the win here look remote. City are 1/6 with bet365 to claim the win in the Full Time Result market and there is really no value in that bet.
A Correct Score bet may be a better value option and in recent games, City have scored a fair few goals against the Villains. They put six past Watford in last year’s FA Cup Final and while I don’t expect Villa to capitulate in quite such dramatic fashion, I do feel City should be good value for a 3-0 win, which is a 6/1 shot with bet365 at present.
Finally, betting on the goalscorers in this game is also a potentially profitable market. If Sterling is fit, and all the indications are that he would be, then he may be a good option, but I always feel big players shine in big games and having taken on penalty duties, I think Kevin de Bruyne to score at any time in the game at 7/4 is the best value option here.
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