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Carling Cup Final
Carling Cup Semi Finals 24th Feb 2008
Tottenham v Arsenal
While the FA Cup is now in full swing, attention will be
turned to the Carling Cup final on Feb 24 as the two
Barclays Premier League giants battle it out for the first
major domestic trophy of the season under the famous arch of
Wembley Stadium. The final has been played at Cardiff's
Millenium Stadium since 2001 but now returns to its
traditional home, meaning an extra incentive for both teams
involved.
teams from the upper echelons of the Barclays premier
league have come under criticism in recent years for
fielding weakended sides throughout the tournament,
particularly in the earlier rounds, but this been largely
due to their involvement in European competitions a well as
domestic cups.
These sides, notable the 'big four' of Manchester United,
Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, have been known to view
thius competition as the ideal opportunity to to blood some
up and coming talent with fringe players relishing the opportunity to make a name for themselves. And this has often provided
the smaller sides with an opportunity to 'make a name for
themselves', with Man Utd coming unstuck against the likes
of York City, and more recently Southend United and Coventry
City.
In recent seasons the big four have dominated the latter
stages of the tournament but it hasn't always been about the
big guns. Wycombe Wanderers almost caused an upset last
season when they held Premier League Champions Chelsea 1-1
at Adams park in the smie final first leg before beating
beaten at Stamford bridge, while Stockport County knocked
out three Premiership sides in the 1996/1997 season before
missing out on the final to Middlesbrough.
Last seasons
climax to the competition saw Chelsea facing fellow rivals
Arsenal in the final, the Gunners making their first
appearance in the Carling Cup Final since 1993 when they'd
beaten Sheffield Wednesday.
The Blues eventually ran out 3-2 winners last year which
was their fourth triumph in this competition. What we can
expect on 24th of February is there is guaranteed to be a
wealth of talent on the hallowed Wembley turf and another
nail biting 90 minutes of football at the very least, a
great opportunity to get footy fans through the door and win
some money!
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