Carling Cup Final Preview: Arsenal vs Birmingham City

Sunday’s Carling Cup Final between Arsenal and Birmingham City should be a walk in the park for the Gunners. Arsenal has already done the league double over Birmingham. The London side have a team of footballers who are more skilled than Birmingham. However, in football, especially a cup final, nothing can ever be taken for granted.

Birmingham have shown glimmers of hope. Obafemi Martins is a proven goalscorer. Nikola Zigic and Craig Gardner can be deadly in front of goal. James McFadden can be dangerous. And what cannot be underestimated is that Birmingham City has nothing to lose. They’ve already won by making it to a Cup Final at Wembley. Even if they lose, their players and fans will feel that they’ve had a great day out.

With Birmingham feeling a little more relaxed and most of the pressure on Arsenal to finally get their first trophy in six years, it’s quite possible that Birmingham may nick a goal when we least expect. If they can do that, we know that City can be a difficult team to score against especially if they play as defensively as we’ve seen them do for most of this season.

In many ways, Sunday’s Carling Cup Final features the Premier League’s most skillful team against the ugliest football team. Birmingham often play a very defensively minded game which is hard on the eyes. Arsenal does the opposite, knocking the ball around and holding on to possession.

The key in this game is who will score the first goal. If Arsenal get an early goal, then I don’t see Birmingham winning it. However, if the Blues can score, it’s quite possible the trophy will be going to the Midlands on Sunday afternoon.

What do you think? What are your thoughts about this Sunday’s Carling Cup? Are there are keys to this match that important to share? Can Birmingham pull off a miracle? Share your opinions in the comments section below.