Carling Cup Final

Spot on from Tom here, as Spurs won 2-1 with the winner from Jonathan Woodgate. 

The Carling Cup final returns to Wembley this Sunday and with Chelsea taking on Spurs it should be a game fit for the occasion. There is no love lost between the pair and, with plenty of attacking talent on display, it should be entertaining.

While Chelsea have picked up trophies with impressive regularity over the past few seasons, Spurs fans have been robbed of any success whatsoever. A slow start to their Premier League campaign this time around ruled out any chance of making the top four but this represents a real opportunity of some silverware and with it the assurance of European football next season.

New boss Juande Ramos has done well at White Hart Lane since his arrival from Sevilla and has a fine record in knockout football; the Spaniard won back to back UEFA Cup’s with his former side.

While Chelsea start the game as overwhelming favourites, they are general 1.60 shots to lift the trophy, there seems to be a positive vibe sweeping through the Spurs side at present and in Berbatov and Keane they have a striking duo that would not be out of place at any club side in Europe. Their creativity will test a resolute Chelsea backline and I think they might just have the edge. That said, I cannot see Chelsea failing to penetrate the Spurs back four and we could be in for a real classic.

Avram Grant signalled his intent for the clash on Sunday by resting John Terry and Frank Lampard in Athens on Tuesday and I expect both to be involved from the start at Wembley. The key team news for me however comes from the other camp and if Spurs are to have any chance of success then Ledley King has to be passed fit to play. As club captain, King is hugely influential and supremely talented to boot.

To break the dominance of the big four, albeit temporarily, I’d dearly love to see Spurs lift the trophy on Sunday but they do have a wretched recent record against the Blues and I’m not sure they believe they are capable of doing it. Nothing much leaps off the page from a betting point of view but with so many exciting forwards involved the odds against about there being three goals or more could be the call. This fixture has a habit of producing plenty of action and the 2.10 or thereabouts is probably a shade big.