Carling Cup winners

The majority of Premier League sides enter the Carling Cup this evening, those competing in Europe do not debut until round three, but while last season’s FA Cup provided any number of shocks, the lesser domestic competition again produced a final between two heavyweights; Spurs beating Chelsea 2-1 in one of the more memorable contests.

That has been the pattern over the past few seasons, just one of the last six finals has failed to feature a representative from the ‘Big Four’, and with the divide between the elite and the rest increasing all the time I expect that to continue.

While the general view, and it’s a correct one, is that the bigger clubs rest their star men in the Carling Cup more often than not it should not be forgotten that the perceived also-rans do exactly the same. That negates any potential disparity in quality and with a side like Chelsea boasting players such as Wright-Phillips, Alex, Ferreira, Malouda and Kalou in their ‘reserves’ then the remainder of those competing have very little chance of going all the way.

Manchester United really do play their kids, as do Arsenal, while Liverpool simply don’t boast the strength in depth of the current Premier League leaders. They are the selection to lift the trophy, having featured in three of the last four finals and winning it twice in that time, and the 5.50 on them doing so looks generous.

While many were sceptical of Scolari’s credentials upon his arrival in England his start to life in the Premier League couldn’t have been more impressive. Two wins accompanied by a couple of clean sheets has them looking down on the rest already and it must be remembered that he has an excellent record in knockout competitions too.

The Carling Cup is a far cry from lifting the World Cup but, keen to impress Roman Abramovich during his first season, I see the Brazilian taking it seriously and that spells trouble for the rest. A Chelsea second eleven is good enough to beat any other side on their day and, with a fortunate draw, the price could look very generous indeed come March. It’s only four ties and five matches to get to Wembley.