Already tonight in England it will become clear which team will add another title to their trophy collection. In the final of the English League Cup, "Liverpool" and "Manchester City" will face each other. "Eurofootball.com" provides you with a review of the Capital One
Cup final.
"Liverpool" vs "Manchester City"
Match time and venue: February 28 at 18:30 at Wembley
stadium in London;
Referee: Michael Oliver;
Head-to-head history: "Liverpool" won 99 matches, "Manchester City" celebrated victory in 52 matches, and 51 matches ended in a draw;
Teams' form: "Liverpool" (2 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss), "Manchester City" (2 wins, 3 losses);
Path to the final:
"Liverpool":
Round of 3 against Carlisle United
1:1 (4:3) *after a penalty shoot-out
Round of 4 against Bournemouth
1:0
Quarterfinals against Southampton
6:1
Semifinals against Stoke City
1:0, 0:1 (6:5) *after a penalty shoot-out
"Manchester City":
Round of 3 against Sunderland
4:1
Round of 4 against Crystal Palace
5:1
Quarterfinals against Hull City
4:1
Semifinals against Everton
1:2, 3:1
Teams' news:
"Liverpool":
"Liverpool" goalkeeper Adam Lallana and Joe Allen, as well as defender Martin Skrtel, have returned to training, although it is still unclear if they will feature in today's match.
Another center-back Dejan Lovren has returned to the squad after an illness, so Jurgen Klopp is unlikely to need to look for alternatives when deciding who to play in that position. In the Thursday's Europa League match he played center-back.
"Manchester City":
"City" squad could see forward Wilfried Bony, winger Jesus Navas, and defender Eliaquim Mangala return to the field after injuries. Mangala was already on the bench for Wednesday's Champions League match against Dynamo
.
Vincent Kompany, Raheem Sterling, and Bacary Sagna had recovery sessions after midweek games and coach Manuel Pellegrini hopes they will all be available for the match against Liverpool
.
Players like Fabian Delph, Kevin De Bruyne, and Samir Nasri are still sidelined and will not be available for City
in the near future.
Key facts before the match:
This will be the twelfth League Cup final appearance for Liverpool
- a record in the competition. In the previous 11 finals, they lifted the trophy eight times. All League Cup titles were won between 1981 and 2012, with the last triumph coming after a penalty shoot-out victory against Cardiff
;
Manchester City has reached the League Cup final on four occasions, winning three times - in 1970, 1976, and 2014, when they defeated Sunderland
in the final. They suffered their only final defeat in 1974 against Wolves
;
This will be the first final between Liverpool
and Manchester City
in any competition;
In cup matches alone, Liverpool
has not lost to City
in eight consecutive matches (6 wins, 2 draws). The last time The Reds
lost to Man City
in a cup game was in the 1973 FA Cup match;
Jurgen Klopp has reached cup finals for the fifth consecutive season, but has only managed to win the trophy once - in 2012 in the German cup. In his last three finals: the 2013 Champions League and the 2014 and 2015 German cup competitions, he suffered defeat;
In the last eight matches between the two teams, a total of 32 goals have been scored, with neither team keeping a clean sheet in these games;
In the last five Capital One
Cup matches, Manchester City
has never kept a clean sheet, but still managed to win with a strong attack, averaging 3.4 goals per game;
Currently, City
has lost three consecutive matches in England - two in the Premier League and one in the FA Cup.
