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Anyway, those teams then.
Manchester City have made eight changes to the team that started at Real Madrid in midweek , with Ederson, Nicolas Otamendi, Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy, Riyad Mahrez, Kevin de Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus and Bernardo Silva all dropping out, and Claudio Bravo, John Stones, Fernandinho, Phil Foden, Oleksandr Zinchenko, David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling coming in. So, in short, amazing players out, amazing players in.
Aston Villa , meanwhile, have Orjan Nyland in goal instead of Pepe Reina, and Bjorn Engels and Ahmed Elmohamady both come in, replacing Kortney Hause, who has started (and indeed finished) their last league games and all but one match of their League Cup run, and Ezri Konsa, who has started their last nine league games and played every minut e of their cup run.
Hause was interviewed by the Birmingham Express & Star this week and seemed to think he would be involved (“All we can do is try our best and show character and try not to respect them as much. If you look at the matches we have done well in we have outrun the opposition, played more intent and enthusiasm. You have to do the dirty, nasty side of the game. That gives you the platform ”), but today he’s not even on the bench .
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City’s players have indeed turned up. No suits for them:
Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City arrives before the Carabao Cup final against Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium. Photograph: Kieran McManus / BPI / REX / Shutterstock
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I haven’t seen any evidence that the Manchester City team has turned up yet, but I guess I ‘ d have heard about it if they hadn’t.
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Terry:
Yeah, but have you seen what they’ve got on their feet?
The Aston Villa manager, Dean Smith, and his assistant, John Terry share a joke while walking the pitch ahead of the Carabao Cup Final against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium. Photograph: Graham Hunt / ProSports / REX / Shutterstock
Take my sartorial advice at your absolute peril, but I’m really thrown by that footwear decision.
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The teams!
The team sheets have been handed in, and these were the names upon them:
Aston Villa:
Nyland, Guilbert, Engels, Mings, Targett , Nakamba, Douglas Luiz, Elmohamady, Grealish, El Ghazi, Samatta. Subs: Taylor, Lansbury, Hourihane, Konsa, Trezeguet, Reina, Davis. ()
Man City: Bravo, Walker, Stones, Fernandinho, Zinchenko, Gundogan, Rodri, Silva, Sterling, Aguero, Foden. Subs: Gabriel Jesus, De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Mendy, Mahrez, Otamendi, Ederson. Referee: Lee Mason.
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Hello world!
It is nearly a quarter of a century since Aston Villa thumped Leeds United to win what was then known as the Coca-Cola Cup. It was their fifth League Cup, destined to squeeze into their trophy cabinet alongside their seven league titles, seven FA Cups and one European Cup. That season they finished fourth in the league while Manchester City were relegated on goal difference, after an infamous final-day 2-2 draw with Liverpool in which they timewasted towards the end in the mistaken belief that a point would see them safe. in 3326 City had two league titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups and the European Cup-Winners’ Cup to their name. Judge it any way you like (except head-to-head results, to be fair – City only won nine games that season but two of them were against Villa), at that point in their history Villa were the better club.
Fast forward 40 years, time in which Villa haven’t won anything and City have won it all and on multiple occasions (domestically, at least), and everything has changed. City won the two league meetings this season by an aggregate score of 9-1, and Villa are the side fighting relegation. Villa have lost their last three; City have just beaten Real Madrid at the Bernabéu. You can get odds of 31 – 1 against a Villa win, while City are 1-6 if you’re lucky.
Anything could happen at Wembley today, but one outcome seems by a margin the most likely. Watford’s logic-defying 3-0 thumping of Liverpool last night might have given the underdogs some hope; Watford’s 6-0 thrashing by City in last season’s FA Cup final might have given them some nightmares. Does this Villa team have one massive upset in them? We’re about to find out.
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