Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov believes his team can ambush Manchester United’s plans to successfully defend a major cup for the first time when the two clubs meet in today’s League Cup final.
The Bulgarian midfielder thinks teammates such as Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ashley Young and James Milner are ready to come of age, while he himself is desperate to eradicate the painful memory of a 2003 UEFA Cup final defeat to Porto during his time at Celtic.
Now reunited with the then-Celtic boss Martin O’Neill at Villa, Petrov is determined to lead Villa to what would be their first major trophy since they won this competition in 1996.
“It’ll be the biggest day of my club career,” Petrov said. “It’s a massive game for this club, for the players, for the fans and I hope at the end of it we can all be happy. We don’t just want to be passengers there, just to go and enjoy it, without winning it. We will put up a massive fight and we will do our best to win it.”
“The only way you enjoy it is by winning,” he said. “I have been there with Celtic and I know how it is when you lose. When I lost in Seville, people said to me: ‘At least you went and enjoyed it.’ That just wasn’t the case. To be honest, I was still having bad dreams about it nights afterwards.”
The key to today’s final could be the battle between Wayne Rooney and Villa centerback Richard Dunne, both of whom have adapted to significant changes in their personal circumstances with superb seasons for their respective employers.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure for Real Madrid has resulted in Rooney being recast as an out-and-out striker and he has responded with 27 goals, while Dunne’s superb form has embarrassed Manchester City for having allowed him to leave for Villa.
Villa defender Stephen Warnock believes Rooney has, this season, joined Lionel Messi and Ronaldo on a level that puts them above every other player on the planet, but he has faith in the ability of Dunne and his fellow centerback James Collins to keep him under lock and key.
“You could argue all night about who is the best out of him, Messi and Ronaldo, but Rooney is one of those players you want to watch,” Warnock said. “He has got all the ability in the world. I’ve been lucky to train with him with England and realize how good he is.”
“Richard and James have got a tough task ahead of them — but Rooney will find it tough to do much against those two as well,” he said. “They are two of the best defenders in the league on form and have been fantastic all season.”
At the other end, the pace and trickery of Agbonlahor and Young could test the resilience of a United defense that will definitely be without Rio Ferdinand and may also be missing Nemanja Vidic.
It was Agbonlahor who scored the winner when the sides met in the league at Old Trafford in December.
United are also without influential veteran Ryan Giggs, who is recovering from a broken arm, and Brazilian midfielder Anderson, who has been ruled out until next season after rupturing the cruciate ligament in his knee.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he was torn between naming his strongest available side and keeping faith with the younger group of players who performed well up to the semi-final win over local rivals Manchester City.
“I’m thinking about the younger ones to give them that smell [of success],” Ferguson said. “There are two or three that come into that category, like Darron Gibson, Jonny Evans and Rafael. They obviously have to be considered, but it would be nice to win the cup having got to Wembley and got through those semi-final ties against City. You want to get to the final and do well.”
Ferguson also has a dilemma over who to play in goal, with Ben Foster, the hero of last season’s penalty-shootout win over Tottenham Hotspur, having impressed in United’s mid-week victory over West Ham United after coming in for the rested Edwin van der Sar.
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
RSS