Looking Ahead To The Capital One Cup Final

After the subsequent backlash from the incidents that occurred in the 1-1 draw at home to Burnley last weekend in the EPL, Chelsea FC will be facing the side that has inflicted their worst defeat this season, Tottenham Hotspur, in the final of the Capital One Cup. Both sides have won the competition four times apiece and would be gunning for a 5th one on Sunday. While Chelsea have been affected by some poor officiating in recent games, their recent form has also left a lot to be desired. They have just managed 7 goals in their last 7 games, winning just 3 times and scoring more than one goal in a game just once against Aston Villa in the same period.

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This competition, earlier called the Carling Cup, helped kick-start Chelsea’s emergence in English Football as well as Roman Abramovich’s plan to make Chelsea one of the biggest football clubs in Europe. It also saw Jose Mourinho win his first trophy as Chelsea manager as his side defeated Liverpool (then managed by Rafa Benitez) by 3 goals to 2 (after extra time) in 2005. He further went on to win it 2 years later with a Didier Drogba-inspired 2-1 victory over Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal (one of the 11 undefeated games Mourinho has managed against Wenger as well as 2 of the 12 goals Drogba scored against Arsenal).

The last time Chelsea made it to the final of this competition, it ended in a 2-1 defeat to our current opponents, which turned out to be one of the near misses Chelsea encountered in the 2007/2008 season. This was the same season that saw the end of Jose Mourinho’s first spell as Chelsea boss as he was sacked a few days after Chelsea’s first UCL group stage game against FC Copenhagen. The club’s then Director of Football, Avram Grant, took over the job and witnessed a campaign which showed initial promise but finally ended in disaster. Chelsea lost the league to Manchester United with just 2 games to go and suffered further heartache with the final defeats to Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspurs in the Champion’s League and Carling Cup respectively.

Key Facts

While Chelsea have a fantastic history at the new Wembley Stadium (no other British side have secured more than Chelsea’s 8 victorys at the stadium), this would be Mourinho’s first final at the stadium as all his previous finals in England were played at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff.
The last time both sides met in the new Wembley Stadium, it ended in a 5-1 victory in favour of Chelsea in the 2012 FA Cup semi-final. Chelsea went on to win the Cup with a 2-1 victory against Liverpool in the final.
No other side has won more finals than Chelsea’s 4 at the new Wembley Stadium. Both Manchester clubs (United and City) have come closest with 2 each while seven other clubs (including Tottenham) have one win apiece. Chelsea have won every final they have played at the stadium.
No other player has managed more goals than Didier Drogba’s 8 goals at the new Wembley Stadium. In fact, he has scored in every final he has played at the stadium.
Jose Mourinho has won every major final he has managed in English Football. He has only lost 1 major final in his entire career, the Copa Del Rey final against Atletico Madrid in 2013 while he was manager of Real Madrid.
This would be the third major final between both clubs, with Tottenham winning the previous two in 1967 and 2008.
This game marks Chelsea’s 14th cup final in all tournaments since Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003. This is Tottenham’s 3rd cup final in that same period, all coming in this competition.

Team Selections

Chelsea’s possible line-up

Chelsea have some key absentees for this game. Nemanja Matic would be facing the first of his reduced 2-match ban for his retaliation against Barnes in last weekend’s EPL game against Burnley. Also, John Mikel Obi, who was most likely to replace him in the team, is still 2 weeks away from recovering from an ankle problem. So expect Ramires to partner Fabregas as the 2 central midfielders. Willian, Cahill and Azpilicueta are most likely to return to the first team after starting the game against Burnley on the bench, while Petr Cech may replace Courtois in goal.

Tottenham’s possible line-up

Mauricio Pochettino made seven changes in Thursday’s Europa League round of 16 2nd leg 2-0 defeat to Fiorentina from his starting line-up in last weekend’s EPL game against West Ham in a bid to keep his players fresh for Sunday’s game. Roberto Soldado was selected ahead of the club’s current top scorer, Harry Kane, and put up another lack lustre performance. So expect Harry Kane, Danny Rose and Kyle Walker to return to the starting line-up.

Key Players

While important players like Fabregas and Costa have suffered recent losses in form, Eden Hazard has remained a constant threat to opposition teams with his dribbling. He (and Branislav Ivanovic) have stepped up their performances over the last few games, popping up with crucial goals and assists. Chelsea’s recent dependence on him would most likely continue in this game as he is likely to be the focal point for every attack and counter attack for the club.

Harry Kane may be Tottenham’s highest goal scorer this season so far, but he would not be there without the creativity of Christian Eriksen. As well as his ability to create chances, he has popped up with crucial goals for the team and has been an invaluable presence for the team. His introduction against West Ham turned the tide of the game in Tottenham’s favour last weekend and he will also be crucial for Tottenham on Sunday.

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Expectations

Any London derby is expected to be difficult, and given Chelsea’s recent performances, victory is far from certain. But what is certain is that the lads will most likely step up their game as they have always managed to do when a cup final comes calling, coupled with the fact that Mourinho needs a win in this game to boost the morale of the squad after the recent run-ins with match officials and the F.A. and to also maintain his record of winning every final as Chelsea boss.

Also, as a result of the recent controversies surrounding officiating decisions in games involving Chelsea, coupled with the fact that the match official for Sunday’s game, Anthony Taylor, was responsible for the wrong booking of Fabregas for diving when he was actually fouled in the 18-yard box by Targett in the draw away at Southampton (which subsequently led Mourinho to make the Chelsea controversy claims that caused him to be fined 25,000 pounds), expect every officiating decision to be scrutinized both in favour of or against Chelsea FC.

Photos by @cfcunoffical. On Twitter and at CFCUnofficial.com

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