A cup final is always fun. There’s just something very enjoyable about the whole thing, even as a neutral. The big stadium, the build-up, looking back at the history of the competition and remembering glory days for your own club in that cup or another. Need an EFL Cup Final VPN?
This Sunday Manchester City and Tottenham will take to the field in the EFL Cup final. The EFL Cup, known throughout it’s life as The League Cup, The Milk Cup, The Littlewoods Cup, The Rumbelows Cup, The Coca-Cola Cup, The Worthingtons Cup, The Carling Cup, The Capital One Cup and currently as the Carabao Cup due to the sponsorship agreements, is the third most important prize on the domestic calendar for English clubs but this Sunday it will be the only thing that matters for City and Spurs.
⚽ Chelsea vs Manchester City
📅 Sunday 25 April 2021
⏰ 1600 UK Kick-Off
🖥️ Sky Sports Sport Live Streaming
It’s a competition that people sometimes feel is relatively new, likely because of the frequent name changes, but it is celebrating its 61st season this time around and has many great moments along the way. For some clubs it’s the scene of their greatest moment, perhaps the only major silverware the club has claimed. QPR in ’67, Swindon in ’69, Oxford in ’86, Luton in ’88, Middlesbrough in ’04, Swansea in ’13. Iconic moments for those clubs and their supporters. The pinnacle of their success, a time when the game stopped and recognised them as winners on the big stage. For some clubs, clubs that have hit on hard times, it represents the last of the good times. Oxford and Luton can count themselves among that group, as too can Sheffield Wednesday who won the Cup in 91 and two-time winners Birmingham, who took the trophy home in 2011.
The competition frequently comes up when the big clubs start complaining about there being too many games on the schedule, and perhaps the answer to that is for them to step out of the competition in seasons when they, or any other club, are in European competition. Maybe that would open up the playing field a bit more because here we are with two of the “Big Six” competing in the final. The “Big Six” have also won the competition a combined 31 times, 32 after this game, showing that while they might gripe about it, most of them take seriously year in year out.
None more-so than City, seven time winners overall, who have won the last three in a row and five of the last season. As City attempt to create their own history and cast aside the jibes from the establishment about them being “new money”, City have taken the approach that all silverware is good silverware. It’s admirable and has helped keep the EFL Cup relevant despite its detractors. While Jurgen Klopp might view it as being unworthy of his attention, Pep Guardiola takes no such view. Neither does Jose Mourinho, who would have led Spurs out this Sunday if he hadn’t just been sacked. Mourinho always prioritises silverware at whatever club he is in charge of. Mourinho is a four time EFL Cup winner having won three during his two spells at Chelsea and also winning it at Manchester United. He has used it as a springboard for further success in previous stints at English club. It was his first trophy in both spells at Chelsea, and would be followed by Premier League titles both times. It was his first trophy at Manchester United, and was followed by a Europa League. While Spurs weren’t going to win anything else this season, it could have given them a springboard for next season. We’ll never know what might have been.
Ryan Mason will take charge of Spurs this weekend after his appointment as caretaker Manager until the end of the season. Mason, yet to turn 30, could become the youngest manager to win major silverware in the modern game. It wouldn’t be a bad way to start, and for Spurs it could go some way towards convincing Harry Kane that his future lies at Tottenham, rather than in Manchester or Paris.
Silverware has eluded Tottenham since 2008 when they won their fourth EFL Cup, then the Carling Cup, defeating Chelsea 2-1 with a Jonathan Woodgate goal sealing a 2-1 victory after Dimitar Berbatov had cancelled out Didier Drogba’s opener to send the game to extra-time. If someone had told Spurs and their fans that the following 12 seasons would see them build arguably their best team in half a century but win nothing, they likely wouldn’t have believed you.
City have had no such drought. Since Tottenham last tasted silverware, City have won four Premier League titles, two FA Cups and five EFL Cups. A win on Sunday will see them join Liverpool as the most successful team in the competitions history, with eight overall. They would also equal the Merseyside teams record of winning it four years in a row, a huge achievement in the modern game and a testament to the strength of their squad, and Pep Guardiola’s desire to win every competition he enters.
This Sunday at 4.30pm, these sides will meet at Wembley. City’s season is already a success as they have the Premier League title in the bag and a Champions League semi-final on the horizon. It’s all or nothing for Tottenham. A top four finish is almost certainly out of reach, they got dumped out of the Europa League and their FA Cup adventure ended in the 5th round.
It’s history in the making on either side, and for a couple of individuals as well. Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho both stand to win their sixth EFL Cup this weekend, and it will also likely be the last time either play in an EFL Cup match. Aguero is confirmed to be leaving City this summer and Fernandinho is rumoured to be joining him through the exit door. They’ll be a loss to the English game in general, but in particular to this trophy. Both are certain picks if naming an all-time EFL Cup 11, but Harry Kane and co won’t want them adding to their medal collection.
Guardiola vs Mason, the master vs the novice. City vs Spurs, success rich vs success starved. Kane vs Aguero for the last time. So many narratives, so much to savour.
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How to watch every EFL Cup match from anywhere…
EFL Cup VPN matches for the 2020/21 season will be streamed live between BT Sport and the BBC Sport website, as well as their respective apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Smart TV, Now TV, FireTV etc.
But these streaming services are not available to everyone, for example when you load BT Sport in the USA, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, Dubai, Canada etc. you will get an error message.
Sorry, this video is not available in your country.
This is basically because their streaming services are geoblocked based on the IP address being used to access it. You must be a UK domestic web user to access Sky Sports live tv streaming.
- Get a UK IP address.
- If you want to watch on your Windows PC, Mac, FireTV, iPhone, iPad or Android then you can get a UK Proxy or VPN Apps from Liberty Shield, FREE for 48 hours and then from only £8.99 per month..
- Prefer to watch on supported media streaming devices like Now TV, Smart TVs, Apple TV, Xbox, PS4, Roku etc? You’ll need a UK configured VPN Router setup as British, available from only £9.99 with Worldwide Shipping available.
