The first piece of silverware in English football this season is up for grabs this weekend. Manchester United and Southampton will be the two teams fighting it out at the Wembley Stadium in the EFL Cup final.
Manchester United will be hoping to win the EFL Cup for the fifth time, having last won it in 2010. Meanwhile, Southampton will be looking to win the trophy for the first time. They have only reached the final once, in 1979, where they were beaten by Nottingham Forest.
Both teams have been in fine form in this tournament. While United have beaten Northampton Town, neighbors Manchester City, West Ham and Hull City to reach the final. Southampton have defeated Premier League Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Arsenal and Liverpool en-route to the final – having yet to concede a goal in the tournament.
The two sides have only met once so far this season in the Premier League where Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s brace was enough to give Manchester United a comfortable 2-0 win over Southampton.
But form and previous results are thrown out of the window in the cup final. Southampton will go into the game with increasing confidence, and will be looking to upset United and win their first League Cup.
But United will know that if they play to their strengths, there will be no stopping them. Here I look at the 5 reasons why the Red Devils will come out on top at Wembley.