The Football League Cup Final

The Final of the 2014/15 Capital One Cup sees Chelsea face off against local and loathed rivals Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on the First of March. At stake, the first silverware of the season, and bragging rights for one London rival over the other.










The sides' trophy-winning pedigree over the last 25 years couldn't be more polar. Indeed, with Chelsea having won 5 times as many honours over the last quarter-century as their neighbours in White, history certainly favours the Blues heading into Sunday's clash, though each side will undoubtedly be as eager as the other to add another piece of silverware to their collection.










The last time the two sides met in domestic cup competition and indeed at Wembley was in 2012, in the FA Cup, in a match that would end in a demolition by the then-soaring Blues. Roberto Di Matteo's men took the lead on 43 minutes when a fairly even first half up to that point gave way to a stunning strike from Didier Drogba in his all-too-familiar stomping ground of Wembley, to send his side into the break a goal to the good. The West Londoners would double their lead just 4 minutes after the restart, though not without controversy, as not only was the ball later determined to not have been over the line following Juan Mata's effort, but the move itself contained a blatant foul or two in the build-up. Still, the away side went 2 up over their rivals, and appeared to be cruising. Harry Redknapp's men responded well, though, and pulled one back just 7 minutes later through Gareth Bale at the other end. The Blues would regain their 2-goal advantage some time later through Ramires just under 15 minutes from time, before a further two goals from Frank Lampard and Florent Malouda completed the rout.










The sides also met, of course, in this competition's Final in 2008, though with a much different outcome, as Juande Ramos' Spurs ran out 2-1 winners over Avram Grant's men through a Dimitar Berbatov penalty in the 70th minute and a late stoppage-time winner from Jonathon Woodgate, after Didier Drogba's first-half opener.










The Premier League fixtures between the sides this term, both having already been played, and each within 4 weeks of the other, yielded radically contrasting outcomes. The first such meeting came at Stamford Bridge, where although the visitors were largely dominant, the hosts eased to a relatively comfortable win, with goals from Eden Hazard, Didier Drogba, and Loic Remy completing the 3-0 victory on the night. The return fixture on New Years' Day however would see the Londoners from the north take their revenge. A dramatic and mostly surprising match that gave way to a stunning 5-3 final result featured goals from Diego Costa, Eden Hazard and John Terry for the guests, and Danny Rose, Andros Townsend, Nacer Chadli, and a brace from Harry Kane for Mauricio Pochettino's men.










Anthony Taylor, who last officiated for Chelsea in their 1-1 away draw against Southampton at St. Mary's Stadium in December and for Tottenham in their 2-1 away defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace at Selhurt Park last month, has been appointed referee for Sunday's affair.





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I'm going to have to stream this one as it's not on TV here.

Cannot wait, and hoping we win it.

Full strength team, shut down Kane and Eriksen and we will get the win here.

Kick wrote:I'm going to have to stream this one as it's not on TV here.

Didn't think about that


Probably won't be on TV here either so I suppose it'll be a stream for me as well

Yeah :\

https://twitter.com/ChelseaFansYT/status/570538738234859521

https://twitter.com/paddypower/status/570517778781872128


Oh my.

Matic

-------------Courtois----------
Ivanovic Terry Zouma Azpi
--------------Cahill-------------
-----Ramires Fabregas------
Hazard---------------- Willian
------------Costa---------------

Been hearing an awful rumor that Cahill will start in midfield . Id much rather have Luis or Ake there.

Brilliant preview Shed!

Pumped up for this game

lol.com
http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/137/england/2015/02/28/9357162/mou-most-important-final-of-my-career?ICID=TP_HN_HP_RI_0_2

https://twitter.com/SpursOfficial/status/571764293429030912


Cringe

Kick wrote:I'm going to have to stream this one as it's not on TV here.

Cannot wait, and hoping we win it.

Full strength team, shut down Kane and Eriksen and we will get the win here.

It's on SBS

fatman123 wrote:

Kick wrote:I'm going to have to stream this one as it's not on TV here.

Cannot wait, and hoping we win it.

Full strength team, shut down Kane and Eriksen and we will get the win here.

LEGEND.

Iv completely forgot about SBS since iv got foxtel. I would have had to streamed it

It's on SBS

TOTTENHAM XI: Lloris (c), Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose; Bentaleb, Mason; Chadli, Eriksen, Townsend; Kane

CHELSEA XI: Cech; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry (c), Azpilicueta; Ramires, Cahill, Fabregas; Willian, Diego Costa, Hazard

Cahill in midfield

Now people saying it's Zouma in midfield


The way the club posted the team seems to suggest otherwise though.

Rebelles.REUS.rex wrote:-------------Courtois----------
Ivanovic Terry Zouma Azpi
--------------Cahill-------------
-----Ramires Fabregas------
Hazard---------------- Willian
------------Costa---------------

Been hearing an awful rumor that Cahill will start in midfield . Id much rather have Luis or Ake there.

The king strikes again

Cahill and especially Zouma are the most un-composed players in the squad. Should have just played Luis there. On the bright side we will be crazy dangerous on set pieces, even more so considering how small spurs team is.

I'm highly skeptical of it myself but José knows more than any of us so let's see how it pans out.