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Manchester City-Aston Villa Preview: Silverware on the line

By J.C. Gonzalez

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 30: The Carabao Cup is seen pitchside prior to the Carabao Cup Round of 16 match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on October 30, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 30: The Carabao Cup is seen pitchside prior to the Carabao Cup Round of 16 match between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on October 30, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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Manchester City head into the Carabao Cup Final against Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium with a huge opportunity: to defend their League Cup crown for a third consecutive season and to win the trophy for the fifth time in the last seven seasons.

Off the back of one of the biggest victories in Manchester City’s history by coming from behind to beat Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabéu, the club can capitalize on a massive week by delivering the first trophy of the season.

City have been the undisputed kings of this competition in recent years, winning the League Cup in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2019. No team has won the competition three times in a row since Liverpool from 1981-1984, which City will have the opportunity to do against recently-promoted Aston Villa.

The Premier League strugglers have been on a magical run to the final, upending Champions League contenders Leicester City in the semi-finals as well as Wolves and Liverpool’s youth squad earlier in the competition.

City will be massive favorites to deliver silverware once again, and are in tremendous form on the back of the biggest result of the season. Although the league has not gone to plan, in cup ties with urgency and a drive to win, the team has delivered on every occasion thusfar, and will look to continue their serial trophy-winning ways under Pep Guardiola.

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Although many, including some of England’s biggest clubs, choose to devalue the integrity of League Cup by intentionally fielding weak sides to avoid fixture congestion, City have demonstrably shown that while they rotate, they take the competition seriously and aim to win every match they play.

This is an admirable quality in modern football, and it could pay off in more silverware barring a massive upset at Wembley. Regardless of the value of the trophy in comparison to the Premier League or Champions League, winning the domestic cups remains a high honor, and one through which City can continue their dominance of the English game despite what has happened in the league this season as they look to make more history on Sunday.