Tomorrow sees either Aston Villa or Manchester City add to their EFL Cup trophy collection. For the Citizens, who are overwhelmingly favored, victory tomorrow will mean League Cup glory number seven. And then winning one more would tie them with Liverpool for the most all-time.
Villa aren’t far behind though, as they can pull even with City, with six League Cup titles, should they pull off the massive upset tomorrow. There are many who believe that this competition is, at best devoid of much meaning, and at worst, totally unnecessary.
Don’t tell that to these two clubs however. And in forecasting the starting lineups for the Sunday matinee at the national stadium, expect both managers to field their strongest side possible. That said, here are our first team prognostications.
Manchester City Starting Prediction:
Bravo; Cancelo, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Mendy; De Bruyne, Rodri, D Silva; Mahrez, Aguero, Sterling
Aston Villa Starting XI Prediction:
Nyland; Konsa, Mings, Hause; Guilbert, Nakamba, Luiz, Targett; El Ghazi, Samatta, Grealish
Manchester City vs Aston Villa League Cup Final FYIs
March 1, 4:30 pm, Wembley Stadium
Team news for both sides: go to this link
TV: Sky Sports Main Event
Key stat: Man City have won their last four matches against Aston Villa by an aggregate margin of 17-1
Betting Odds: 18-1 Aston Villa, 1-6 Manchester City, 15-2 draw
Prediction: Manchester City 4, Aston Villa
City have dominated this series, and this tournament lately, so it’s safe to say they’ll take care of business again here.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link