Manchester United and Southampton will be facing each other at Wembley as they look to win the first piece of silverware this season. The Saints pulled off a major upset when they defeated Liverpool over a 2-legged semi-final and set up the clash with the Red Devils. Claude Puel’s side will be confident despite facing such a difficult opposition as they have the confidence of a win over Liverpool over two legs of football and add to that their latest Premier League match saw them trounce Sunderland 4-0, the Saints will be buzzing as they approach the final.
United, on the other hand, are through to the Round of 16 of the Europa League after a 4-0 aggregate win over St. Etienne and will now look to add to their trophy cabinet with the EFL Cup. They are outright favourites but in cup competitions, one never knows.
TRIVIA
- This is the second time these sides have met in the final of a competition, having played each other in the 1976 FA Cup final. Southampton, then a second-tier side, defeated United 1-0 thanks to a Bobby Stokes goal. It remains the only time they have won a major English trophy.
- Southampton will be the third team United have played in both an FA Cup and League Cup final, following Aston Villa and Liverpool.
- This will be United’s ninth League Cup final appearance. They have won four and lost four, but three of those victories have been in their past three finals (2006 v Wigan, 2009 v Spurs and 2010 v Aston Villa).
- Only Liverpool (12) have appeared in more League Cup finals than United (nine) and only Arsenal (five) have lost more finals than the Red Devils.
- Jose Mourinho has reached the League Cup final three times previously (as Chelsea manager in 2005, 2007 and 2015), winning the trophy each time. He has the best win percentage for a manager in League Cup finals.
- Only Brian Clough (four) and Sir Alex Ferguson (four) have won the League Cup more times than Jose Mourinho (three).
- Mourinho has never lost an English domestic cup final in his career, also winning the FA Cup in 2007.
- Southampton are just the second side in League Cup history to reach the final without conceding a goal – Tottenham Hotspur managed this feat in 1981-82 but lost the final 3-1 to Liverpool.
TEAM NEWS & PREDICTED LINE-UPS
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1)
United will miss their attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan after he injured a hamstring. Midfielder Michael Carrick is fit despite injuring his calf in France, while Phil Jones will be assessed.
De Gea; Valencia, Bailey, Smalling, Blind; Pogba, Herrera; Martial, Rooney, Mata; Ibrahimovic
SOUTHAMPTON (4-3-3)
Southampton are hoping Sofiane Boufal will return from an ankle injury. Charlie Austin, Virgil van Dijk, Jeremy Pied, Matt Targett and Alex McCarthy are long-term absentees.
Forster; Soares, Stephens, Yoshida, Bertrand; Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Davis; Tadic, Gabbiadini, Redmond
BETTING ODDS
MANCHESTER UNITED- 3/4
DRAW- 27/10
SOUTHAMPTON- 9/2
TRIVIA COURTESY- OPTA
