The first major silverware of the English season is up for grabs on Sunday as Manchester City and Chelsea square off in a bid to win the Carabao Cup Final. For City, it is the first step in a bid to win an unprecedented quadruple, while for Chelsea the objective could be slightly different.
Obviously, the Blues will want to win the trophy just as much as their Manchester based counterparts, although at the same time there is also an air of impending doom currently circling around Stamford Bridge.
That’s because the pressure is starting to mount on manager Maurizio Sarri and some quarters are questioning whether a heavy defeat at Wembley could well bring a sudden end to his time in West London.
That pressure would have no doubt been alleviated after Chelsea progressed into the Europa League Round of 16 on Thursday night, while at the same time the recent Premier League thrashing by Manchester City is still one that lives long in the memory.
Pep Guardiola’s men handed Chelsea a 6-0 spanking at the Etihad, one that saw them go four goals down in just the first 25 minutes. It was a display that suggested that Chelsea and by extension Sarri have run out of ideas.
Many are questioning whether Sarri’s tactical rigidness is now quickly becoming his undoing, the feeling being that he has been found out by his new Premier League peers and in doing so, Chelsea are no longer a tough nut to crack.
This then poses the dilemma that Chelsea manager faces on Sunday, does he continue with his tried and tested methods – one’s that are not quite paying dividends as of late, or does he look to utilise a plan b.
You almost get the feeling that whatever methods are deployed, they won’t be able to stop a City side that have clearly got the bit between their teeth once more and are just warming up in their pursuit of this season’s prizes.
They come into this Wembley encounter fresh off the back of a Champions League win over Schalke, one that looked unlikely when they fell behind to two Nabil Bentaleb first half penalties. However, their class shone through in the end as Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling made sure of a 3-2 win.
That win puts them in the box seat in terms of progressing to the Quarter-final stage of the competition and from there they would have to be considered favourites to go on and win a first ever Champions League trophy.
Still any hopes of conquering the continent will have to be on hiatus for a couple of weeks at least as Sunday’s League Cup Final is the focus and although it is the lesser of all the four prizes on offer for City this season, they will want to win this one just as much.
City will go into this game as huge favourites to win this encounter and you would have to say rightfully so, the concern for Chelsea is that if they are humbled by the light blue machine again then it could well be arrivederci for Maurizio Sarri.