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· Last Year's Carling Cup Final - Spurs 2 Chelsea 1
· How the teams got to Wembley
· NEW! - See the current injury list for all Premiership Teams!
Full Domestic Cup History Spurs v Manchester United
FA Cup
Season Rd H/A Result Scorers
1898-99 1 H 1-1 Joyce
1898-99 1R A 5-3 Jones, McNaught
Smith, Hartley
Joyce
(United known as Newton Heath)
1922-23 2 H 4-0 Lindsay, Handley (3)
1925-26 2 H 2-2 Thompson, Lindsay
1925-26 2R A 0-2 -
1961-62 S-F * 3-1 Greaves, Jones, Medwin
1967-68 3 A 2-2 Chivers (2)
1967-68 3R H 1-0 Robertson (a.e.t)
1978-79 Q-F H 1-1 Ardiles
1978-79 Q-FR A 0-2 -
1979-80 3 H 1-1 Ardiles
1979-80 3R A 1-0 Ardiles
1996-97 3 A 0-2 -
2007-08 4 A 1-3 Keane
2008-09 4 A 1-2 Pavlyuchenko
LEAGUE CUP
1979-80 2(1) H 2-1 Pratt, Hoddle
1979-80 2(2) A 1-3 Armstrong
1981-82 2(1) H 1-0 Archibald
1981-82 2(2) A 1-0 Hazard
1989-90 3 A 3-0 Lineker, Samways, Nayim
1998-99 Q-F H 3-1 Armstrong (2), Ginola
Could all this happen again?
· Ten years ago, in the 1998-99 season, Spurs won the League Cup, whilst United went on to win their historic treble of League, FA Cup and Champions League
· On their path to that 1999 victory, Spurs beat United 3-1 in one of the games where David Ginola starred, and scored.
· Another Spurs victim on that run was Liverpool at their Anfield stronghold, where Spurs won 3-1.
· A former Spurs player scored for United in their Champions League final win - Teddy Sheringham. Could Dimitar Berbatov play such a part in this year's prestige final?
· A player whose surname began with a G (Ginola) won the Player of the Year award. United veteran Ryan Giggs is a candidate for this year's award. Giggs is still starring at the highest level of domestic football, which he has graced since Day One.
· Last year, Spurs faced Chelsea in the Carling Cup Final. Chelsea were flying high, in the hunt for more than one trophy, and eventually lost that dramatic penalty shoot-out in Moscow to United. Spurs were not given too much of a chance of victory, but went on to have a great day, thanks to Jonathan Woodgate's winner in extra time.
Those who write off Spurs chances (including some of their own fans) need to think again. Sir Alex Ferguson will certainly not be under-estimating Spurs chances. However, despite the United dream of winning five trophies (they are already this season's World Club Champions), Sir Alex has promised a Wembley start to midfielder Darron Gibson and winger/striker Danny Wellbeck. Both have played a prominent part in the United run this season, with Gibson taking part in every game, and starting the last 4, whilst Wellbeck sat out only the 5-3 Blackburn game.
Wellbeck was a member of the United team that beat Spurs in this year's FA Cup at Old Trafford i would venture to suggest that the United team that played us that day was stronger than that which will start tomorrow. For a start Berbatov is not even in the squad. Neither he nor Van Der Sar have featured in United's Carling Cup run, and both sit out the game tomorrow.
Rafael Da Silva, who probably would have started misses out through injury, so it is possible that one or two more of the "big guns" start. However, the United manager has had to oversee a number of injury niggles in recent games, and he will be wanting to protect certain players for their next Premier League game at Newcastle. The United squad is:- Foster, Kuszczak, Neville, Fabio, Gibson, Evans, Vidic, Ferdinand, O'Shea, Evra, Welbeck, Anderson, Carrick, Fletcher, Park, Scholes, Nani, Ronaldo, Giggs, Tevez, Rooney.
Pavlyuchenko scored the opening goal in that Cup game at Old Trafford, and is in the reckoning to play tomorrow and to maintain his record of scoring in every round of this year's competition. Pav's first goal for Spurs came in the 3rd Round game at Newcastle, and he is one of the top scorers (6) in the competition. Tevez is one of the other two players on 6. (The third is Nathan Ellington of Derby)
Harry Redknapp's game plan over the last 10 days has surely been about preserving and preparing Spurs' best players for this game. Yes, we have injured players such as Hutton and Defoe, and we have cup-tied players - Cudicini, Chimbonda, Keane and Palacios, and yes United's Fraizer Campbell has to miss the game because of his United ownership.
However, the Spurs squad (Gomes, Alnwick, Corluka, Assou-Ekotto, Woodgate, King, Bentley, Jenas, Modric, Zokora, Lennon, Pavyluchenko, Bent, O'Hara, Huddlestone, Bale, Dawson, Gunter, Giovani, Taarabt) have the resources to perform well on the day. We will field a stronger team than that which lost at Old Trafford by one goal.
Of course I am not being blinkered. Whoever wears the red shirt of United will play with skill, pace, dynamism and the desire to win their second trophy of the season, but I travelled in optimistic mood last year for the Chelsea game and do so again.
Spurs COULD become the first side to retain the League Cup since Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest in 1990. They COULD climb between just Liverpool (7) and draw level with Aston Villa by winning the trophy for the fifth time. If United won, it would be just their third League Cup win.
Could all this happen again? Yes it could!
· How the teams got to this year's Carling Cup Final
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