Chelsea, Tottenham face-off in English League Cup final

Chelsea, Tottenham face-off in English League Cup final

Manchester: In the space of a few hours on Sunday, Chelsea could win its first trophy in Jose Mourinho’s second spell as manager and take a big step toward capturing the Premier League title.

The first piece of silverware in the English season is up for grabs when London rivals Chelsea and Tottenham meet at Wembley Stadium for the League Cup final.

Mourinho won that competition in his first year at Chelsea in 2005, and also guided the team to the Premier League later that season to launch the most successful period in the club’s history.

The same double could be repeated a decade later.

Before starting the cup final, Chelsea will know if its five-point lead in the league has been cut by second-place Manchester City when the champions play away to in-form Liverpool. With only 12 rounds left, Chelsea will be an even bigger title favorite if City draws or loses at Anfield, where it hasn’t won in any competition since 2003.

What plays into the hands of both Chelsea and City this weekend is that Tottenham and Liverpool have little time to rest after playing in the Europa League.

Chelsea’s players will have had a full week off before the final, while City played Barcelona at home in the Champions League on Tuesday, losing 2-1.

Arsenal is also looking to make amends for a disappointing home performance in the last 16 of Europe’s top competition this week when it hosts Everton in the league. The Gunners were jeered off the field after losing 3-1 to Monaco on Wednesday.

There are three points between third-place Arsenal and sixth-place Liverpool in the standings. Manchester United and Southampton are fourth and fifth, respectively, and are in action Saturday.

Here are some things to know about this weekend in England:

NO MATIC

Chelsea has only lost three games all season – and Nemanja Matic wasn’t playing in two of them.

So, the midfield anchorman’s absence on Sunday because of suspension will be a major blow to Mourinho, who is likely to replace Matic with John Obi Mikel. Mikel has played only one game in the past month.

The only time Matic was on a losing Chelsea team this season was against Tottenham in a 5-3 defeat on New Year’s Day.

A positive for Chelsea is that Spurs have only won four of nine matches that have followed their Europa League outings this season.

via NorthEast Calling http://ift.tt/1AozD5h