Carabao Cup 2019-20 Final: Live Updates, results, matches
The first final of the year and it’s a cracker of an ending to what has been a rather fantastic Carabao Cup so far. Somehow Aston Villa, against all odds, beat Liverpool, Leicester City and Brighton to reach Wembley while Manchester City only had Manchester United, Oxford United and Preston.
Welcome to Sportscafe’s live-blog for the first final of the season and it’s a wonderful little Carabao Cup final and hopefully, it’s a classic. Let’s ignore the fact that this brilliant and rampant Manchester City have been pitted against relegation-threatened Aston Villa and instead remember the fact that this is a cup final, where absolutely anything might happen.
Let’s remember the fact that 19th place Watford beat unbeaten for four hundred something days Liverpool 3-0 at Vicarage Road. Let’s remember that City maybe chasing after glory but yet look a little shaky doing it despite a treble on their minds. It’s the fact that Aston Villa, as Dean Smith said, may not concentrate on the cup final and instead focus on the league. But we know he’s not going to do that, because this is a Cup Final.
This is the first final of the season and the fate of all finals from the near future rest in the balance especially if Aston Villa treat it like nothing more than a lackadaisical kick-about. But it’s a Cup Final and with it, brings glory, trepidation and more important the first available English trophy for clubs interesting in that sort of thing.
Liverpool clearly aren’t and neither are Arsenal, Manchester United, Leicester City, Chelsea or anyone of the other 18 teams currently playing/losing Premier League football apparently, which leaves Aston Villa and Manchester City to contest for what is the second most important cup competition available for English sides in the season.