Hi ,
Wembley Win For Liverpool in High Scoring Final
The key to the outcome of the Capital One Cup Final at Wembley is the relative strengths of the teams representing Manchester City and Liverpool. One of the dynamics is the manager of each club. Manuel Pellegrini is on borrowed time while Jurgen Klopp would be seen as a successful appointment if he won a trophy in his first season. Liverpool have more incentive and can beat City in a high scoring game.
Liverpool have won the League Cup eight times which is three times more than any other team. Their wins span from 1981 to 2005 and they have also lost in three finals. Manchester City have won the trophy in three years, most recently in 2014 and lost in the final way back in 1974. The competition was first sponsored in 1982 and since then the title sponsors have been the Milk Marketing Board, Littlewoods, Rumbelows, Coca-Cola, Worthington’s, Molson Coors and Capital One.
Liverpool have met Manchester City in 152 fixtures, winning 99, losing 52 and there have been 51 draws. They met in the semi-final of the League Cup in the 2011-12 season and Liverpool won the tie over two matches by three goals to two. There is little between the clubs over the last 10 matches in the Premier League. Over that spell City have won three matches, lost one more and there have been three draws. More significantly Liverpool have won three of the last four, scoring ten goals and conceding seven.
The last ten finals of the League Cup as it was known before sponsorship have produced 31 goals with both teams scoring in six of those matches. The total goal’s tally was more than two in eight recent finals and there has only been one goalless draw. The highest score was the five goals Swansea scored against Bradford without reply in 2013. Ten of ten winners were Premier League sides and Manchester United and Chelsea are the only multiple winners.
Both this year’s finalists are recent winners, Liverpool beating Cardiff City after extra-time and penalties in 2012 and Manchester City beating Sunderland two years ago. Five of the losing finalist since 2006 have been London clubs and Manchester teams have won four of the last ten finals. A Welsh side has won the trophy and lost in the final over the last decade. Only Swansea of the winners could not be described as a big city club.
The Capital One Cup is probably third on the wish list of Manchester City multiple trophies this season. Before fielding the under 21 side in the FA Cup against Chelsea last weekend City were in contention to win all four. They have dropped off the pace in the Premier League and each of the three sides above them are unlikely to all drop enough points to allow City to over haul them. The Champions League is now a massive priority.
City have never reached the last eight of the competition which in view of the investment in the club is a huge underachievement. However, they were fresh and dynamic in beating Dynamo Kiev in the first leg of their last 16 tie. In winning 3-1 they are the first English team to win an away leg in the Champions League since Chelsea beat Barcelona in 2012. Pellegrini’s selection policy was justified as City look certain to qualify for the quarter finals for the first time.
Liverpool are becalmed in mid-table safety in the Premier League, free from relegation issues and unlikely to qualify for the Champions League through that route. However, the winners of the Europa League qualify for next season’s Champions League so winning the secondary European trophy gives Liverpool a ticket into the elite. Klopp took Borussia Dortmund to the 2013 final but his side were beaten by Bayern Munich at Wembley.
Ahead of today's Capital One Cup final Liverpool played Augsburg at home in the second leg of a tie in which the first fixture in Germany was goalless. The lack of an away goal did not negate home advantage and they progressed to the last 16. Liverpool have won the forerunner to the Europa League, the UEFA Cup, three times so winning another would take them further ahead of Manchester United in the list of English clubs who have won European trophies.
A subplot to this year’s final is the respective managers. Klopp would love to win a trophy in his first season with Liverpool and Pellegrini would love to do the same in what is his last season as the manager of City before Pep Guardiola takes over. The match brings together the contrasting management styles of the expressive, mad Klopp and the laid back Pellegrini and insanity can prevail if Liverpool play the first team and City field the reserves.
Best Wishes,
BetFan
