- Jul 27, 2004
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So with Prague out of the way attention can now turn to the Carling Cup Final against Chelsea. This match promises to be one of the better final in recent history and with a little bit of luck it will be our name on the Cup come the final whistle on Sunday.
The Official Site Team News:
Juande Ramos will keep a close eye on the fitness of a couple of players ahead of Sunday's Carling Cup Final.
Pascal Chimbonda will be monitored over the next two days after twisting his knee in a challenge in Thursday night's UEFA Cup tie against Slavia Prague. He was substituted after an hour of the 1-1 draw at the Lane.
Kevin-Prince Boateng (hamstring) and Ledley King (knee) both trained on Friday and Michael Dawson (hamstring) underwent a light running session.
Gilberto (calf) misses out as he's not expected to train until next week while Benoit Assou-Ekotto (knee) and Gareth Bale (foot) continue their rehabilitation from long-term injuries.
Skysports.com Preview:
Chelsea face London rivals Tottenham in the first Carling Cup final to be played at Wembley since 2000.
The Blues will be looking to defend the trophy they won in Cardiff 12 months ago after a fiery encounter with Arsenal.
Ugly scenes marred the end of that match as Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor and John Obi Mikel were all sent off and there were seven minutes of stoppage time.
This year's final promises to be memorable for footballing reasons as Tottenham go in search of their first major trophy since they triumphed over Leicester in the 1999 final.
Martin Jol was in charge at Tottenham as they began their campaign with a 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough, before Juande Ramos came in for the game against Blackpool in the next round.
Ramos has a superb record in cup competitions and has led Spurs impressively to the final.
The highlight of their run was undoubtedly the 5-1 thrashing of Arsenal in the semi-final, which upset the form book and suggested Tottenham were also capable of turning over Chelsea in the final.
Spurs' sluggish performance in their Uefa Cup clash against Slavia Prague on Thursday betrayed their claims that they would not start focusing on the final until Friday morning.
Duo set to start for Spurs
Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane played a half each against Slavia but are almost certain to start together up front on Sunday.
Aaron Lennon, Jermaine Jenas and Steed Malbranque are certainties for midfield places but Ramos faces a dilemma over whether to include Didier Zokora or Tom Huddlestone in the centre.
An even trickier decision for Ramos will be whether to keep Paul Robinson in goal after his impressive display against Slavia or recall Radek Cerny.
Ledley King has been saved in recent weeks with the final in mind, and he is set to partner Jonathan Woodgate in central defence even if he is not 100 per cent fit.
Chelsea are still in the hunt for the Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, and they will be hoping to take the first step towards an unprecedented quadruple.
Tricky decisions
Avram Grant made 11 changes to his side for the midweek game against Olympiakos and he is set to tinker yet again.
He is spoilt for choice with no new injury worries, and must decide on the formation of his team as well as the personnel.
Didier Drobga and Nicolas Anelka have yet to play in tandem and it seems improbable that Grant would alter his approach and go with two strikers.
Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou appear to be vying for two spots, while Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Michael Ballack and Claude Makelele will all be desperate to feature in the centre of midfield.
John Terry could be recalled in defence but Ricardo Carvalho and Alex have both impressed in recent weeks.
Skysports.com prediction: Chelsea 3 Tottenham 1
BBC Match Squads (take with a pinch of salt):
Tottenham Squad (from): Robinson, Cerny, Hutton, Chimbonda, Lee, Gunter, Dawson, King, Woodgate, Rocha, Kaboul, Tainio, O'Hara, Huddlestone, Zokora, Jenas, Malbranque, Lennon, Boateng, Taarabt, Bent, Keane, Berbatov.
Chelsea Squad (from): Cech, Cudicini, Hilario, Ferreira, Belletti, Terry, Alex, Ben-Haim, Carvalho, A Cole, Bridge, Sidwell, Essien, Lampard, Ballack, Malouda, Wright-Phillips, Drogba, Anelka, J Cole, Pizarro, Shevchenko, Kalou, Obi, Makelele.
Interesting Stats:
Chelsea and Tottenham contest the 48th League Cup final, and the second successive all-London match-up, after the 2-1 victory by the Stamford Bridge club over Arsenal 12 months ago.
Chelsea are still fighting quadruple honours, and bidding to become the first club to retain the League Cup since Nottingham Forest in 1990.
The trophy has been retained on five occasions; Nottingham Forest achieved it first in 1979, and Liverpool held the silverware for four years from 1981 to 1984.
Tottenham booked their place in this showpiece with a 5-1 win over Arsenal in the second leg of the semi-final. It laid to rest a run of 21 matches without victory over the Gunners. Now the north London survivors have the chance of a League Cup and Uefa Cup double.
Chelsea have won this competition four times; Tottenham three times. Only Liverpool (seven) and Aston Villa (five) exceed that.
Both clubs are making their sixth appearances in the final; only Leicester (10), Aston Villa (seven), and Arsenal, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest (six each already) have appeared in more.
Spurs will wear all white, and Chelsea all blue in the first Carling Cup final to be staged at the new Wembley.
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Right, that's enough fuel for this fixture, kick off is at 15:00 GMT - check [thread=27549]Geez's Media Coverage Thread[/thread] for watching and listening options.
COME ON YOU SPURS!
[SIZE=-4]Lots of information courtesy of the BBC and SkySports[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-4]Don't forget to head over to SC's live chat during the game. For more info click the banner below.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=-4]Lots of information courtesy of the BBC and SkySports[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-4]Don't forget to head over to SC's live chat during the game. For more info click the banner below.[/SIZE]
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