Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur Carling Cup Final 2008: Preview and Live Score

If you are interested to get the live score and updates of the Chelsea vs Olympiacos match then visit the following link:

Chelsea vs Olympiacos: Live Score and Updates

Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are going to face each in the Carling (League) Cup 2008 final. The final match will take place on 24 February 2008. For the first time the final match of Carling Cup will be held at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium, the home of English Football, since the stadium was demolished for reconstruction in 2001. The final match of Carling Cup was held at the Millennium Stadium of Cardiff for the last seven seasons. So, the match is very significant from this perspective as well.

Match: Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur, Carling Cup Final 2008
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London, England
Date: 24 February 2008, Sunday
Kick off Time: 15:00 GMT

The Recent Form of Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur
Chelsea is still active in all the competitions in both home and abroad. Aside from, Carling Cup, Chelsea have recently confirm their FA Cup quarter final berth after projecting a 3-1 victory over Huddersfield Town. They ended up with a goalless draw in their Champions League last 16 first leg tie with Greek club Olympiakos Piraeus. So, ahead of second leg home match, Chelsea has an edge over their opponent. Last but not least, Chelsea is still in the title race of Premier league with eight points behind the leader Arsenal at the top of the point table. So, you may think that Chelsea is in great form this season. However, the fact is that their performance is not that much impressive though they are consistently picking up three points and getting the necessary victories.

Chelsea has gone through a string of injury blows half way the season with missing even eight regular members of the squad at times when their African stars were on international duty in African Nations Cup. On this perspective, Chelsea’s performance has been praiseworthy so far this season as they still have chance to win every competition possible in a season.

Tottenham Hotspur got a nightmarish start this season. At one stage, they are around the relegation zone. Following the sack of manager Martin Jol and the entrance of Juande Ramos from Sevilla, the situation developed a lot, though not dramatically. Suprs played 26 matches so far under new manager Ramos with winning 14 and drawing 7 times. The most highlighted performance was when Tottenham Hotspur got an inspirational 5-1 home victory over their North London rivals Arsenal in the second leg of the semi final match of Carling Cup in January.

However, Chelsea is ahead of the Tottenham Hotspur in terms of their recent performance. Chelsea has five victories and three draws out of their last eight matches in all competition. Out of last eight matches, Tottenham Hotspur got five victories, two draws and a defeat to Manchester United.

The Injury News of Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea
Both the sides have some injury problems ahead of the match. Tottenham Hotspur takes on Slavia Prague in the second leg match of UEFA Cup tonight and it is not yet confirmed if Suprs gives rest to some of their key players with the Carling Cup final in mind. Besides the two long term absentees Gareth Bale and Benoit Assou-Ekotto, defender Michael Dawson is also doubtful for the Carling Cup final with hamstring injury. Kevin-Prince Boateng (hamstring), Gilberto (calf) have not recovered from their injury yet. However, Captain Ledley King is expected to return to action since his side’s 5-1 demolition of Arsenal at home. He is expected to be rested for the Slavia Prague match in order to ensure his participation in the league cup final.

Guardian reported:

Ramos followed that by stressing that the Uefa Cup tie was a priority "because it is the next match", although the Spaniard is clearly engaged in some forward thinking. Ledley King, who has not played since the 5-1 defeat of Arsenal in the Carling Cup semi-finals last month, will be on the bench with a place in the starting line-up on Sunday in mind. The England defender trained with his team-mates today, but there is an acceptance within the club that his knees will not withstand two games in such a short space of time.

Back to Chelsea, they still have injury woe, though not as severe as it was for the last few months. Chelsea captain John Terry and midfielder Frank Lampard are reportedly going to miss the final against Tottenham Hotspur. Actually their participation is not yet confirmed as there are mixed report on their participation in the league cup final. BBC reported that they were going to miss the Carling Cup final, while some other sources said both of them are taking part in the crucial match against Tottenham Hotspur. Both of them were rested for the Champions League clash with Olympiakos though they had participated in their 3-1 FA Cup fifth round victory.

BBC reported:

"(Boss) Avram Grant would not confirm their participation," said BBC football correspondent Jonathan Legard.

"But I'm told the pair are set to be left out again."

Sportbox reported:

Chelsea rested Frank Lampard and John Terry for the 0-0 draw with Olympiacos, leaving the England internationals raring to go on Sunday.

"John and I are going to be fresh and a final against Tottenham is always a game that you are going to be very excited about," Lampard said this week.

There is no other injury problems in the Chelsea squad expect the uncertainty over Terry and Lampard. African stars are also available in the squad. So, the situation is better for manager Avram Grant. He has been leading the side with sheer tactics while missing a number of key players with injury.

Tottenham Hotspur coach Juande Ramos is now delighted with the upcoming Carling Cup final against Chelsea. Ramos is said to be a Cup specialist as he won UEFA Cup and Cope del Roy with Sevilla in the last few season. However, he revealed that the Carling Cup final is going to be the biggest of his career. To him, playing at Wembley is a dream.

Goal.com reported:

"For me it is a personal dream to play at Wembley; the biggest I've had as a coach," he told the Daily Mail.
"I couldn't have imagined this. But that's not what's important. What gives me the most satisfaction is seeing how happy and excited the team, the club and the fans are. They are the ones who got us here.

Wembley is one of the biggest stadiums in the world and sitting on the officials’ bench at Wembley is certainly prestigious for any coach. I think, Avram Grant might have the same feeling about the match.

Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea in Carling Cup
Both Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea are two of the most successful teams in the history of Carling Cup. Tottenham won the league cup trophy for three times, while Chelsea lifted the trophy for four times. Chelsea’s recent performance in Carling Cup is really impressive with winning the trophy twice in the three seasons including the last season’s victory. Chelsea is the defending champions of the tournament and it is going to be the third Carling Cup final in four years. The last time, Tottenham Hotspur won the trophy was in 1999. Since then, their best performance in the league cup was in 2002 where they lost to Blackburn Rovers in the final.

If you go back to history for the head to head clash between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, you will find Chelsea in dominant form with 21 victories out of their last 28 meetings in all competitions. Tottenham lost three out of their last four matches against Chelsea while the other match was draw. The last time, Tottenham Hotspur defeated Chelsea was in 2006 premier league. So, Chelsea seems to be favorite in terms of previous meetings.

Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur Carling (League) Cup Final: Online Live Score
I know that fans are now eagerly waiting for the match. Both sides will give their every effort to win the match at Wembley. So, it seems to be an exciting match. However, not all some of you might miss the live action of the match on television due to personal and professional works. That is why, I have collected some links of online live score websites from where you can get the online live score and updates of the match. The links are as follows:

Live Score

Goalzz

Footie Scorez

Sportpress

Goal.com

It is really very hard to predict about the possible winner of the league cup final, despite the history is in favor of Chelsea. Actually, it is going to be a different match, which has no relation to their previous performances. Those who play well will be the winner- this could be the best possible way to conclude. However, I think, Chelsea has a slight edge over the Tottenham Hotspur considering the fitness. Anyway, it would not be fair to think that Ramos boys will make the task easier for Chelsea. In fact, Tottenham Hotspur will atone for the revenge of their recent premier league defeat to Chelsea. So, I hope to see a mouth watering match between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea.