Carling Cup Final Preview – Aston Villa vs Manchester United

The Premier League’s meanest defence takes on the League’s best attack this sunday as Wayne Rooney will be the man taking centre stage once more.

Rooney will be looking to make amends after missing last years showpiece final through illness and he has a chance to help United to retain a cup trophy for the first time in their history.

The Manchester United and England striker has been in sensational form this season hitting 27 goals in 35 appearances in all competitions and it will be up to Aston Villa to stop him for a third time this season. Rooney says he is eager to play in Sunday’s Carling Cup Final.

He explains: “This is why you join a club like Manchester United, to win trophies and play in cup finals. Playing at Wembley is still a great feeling. Hopefully, I’ll play Sunday and we can win the trophy.”

The England man is well on the way to being the 4th manchester united player in a row to win PFA player of the year and Villa will surely have to keep him quiet if they are to win their first trophy for 14 years.

Aston Villa however, will have to overcome a team that they have beaten just twice in 37 attempts. This Aston Villa team seems to be made of sterner stuff these days though after taking four points from Manchester United this season including an impressive 1-0 win at Old Trafford.

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neil is relishing the challenge of bringing back the glory days to Villa Park, the former leicester boss won the trophy twice in his time their. “This is a fantastic challenge,” O’Neill said.

“I am well aware of the history of this football club. Trying to restore it to its days of former glory seems a long way away, but why not try? It is nearly 25 years since they won the European Cup but that is the dream.”

Manchester United who, at times, have looked a shadow of the team that has won 3 consecutive premier league titles and been to one champions league are going in to the game without Rio Ferdinand, John O’Shea and Anderson.

However the return of Nemanja Vidic to the starting line up will be a boost to the defence that was exposed badly by Everton and at times by AC Milan.

The semi finals have re-ignited a lot of interest into the carling cup this year, Aston Villa’s stunning 7-4 win against Blackburn followed by Manchester United’s epic late winner in the manchester derby were arguably two of the games of the season.

Manchester United will rightly be favourites this Sunday, but this is not the same Manchester United from 2008, and Aston Villa are an ever improving side.

Match Prediction:- Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester United, Wayne Rooney to have a good game but Agbonlahor to steal the show.

match odds:- Manchester United: 4/5,  Draw: 13/5,  Aston Villa: 7/2

Possible starting XI\’s: Aston Villa: Friedel, Warnock, Collins, Dunne, Cuellar, Petrov, Milner, Downing, A Young, Agbonlahor, Heskey

Manchester United : Foster, Neville, Vidic, Brown, Evra, Carrick, Fletcher, Scholes, Park, Valencia, Rooney

Sunderland’s Bent critical of defence ahead of Arsenal clash

Darren Bent says Sunderland must work on their defence to halt the club’s slide towards relegation.

The Black Cats striker, who has 16 goals this season, has warned they need to tighten up at the back if they are to achieve Premier League survival.

Bent has pointed the finger at Sunderland’s poor defensive record since their last win, which ironically was against next week’s opponents Arsenal.

He claims it’s going to take a team effort to put a stop to their defensive struggles, he said: “It’s not just on defenders and midfielders, it’s on the whole team. Strikers need to communicate better with the midfielders and defenders, as well as the goalkeeper.”

Sunderland got a sense of déjà vu this week as another Portsmouth injury time equaliser meant that it is now 12 games without a win, and just 6 points from a possible 36.

However, Bent has praised fellow strike partner Kenwyne Jones and believes he could be key in getting Sunderland back on track.

Jones has got seven goals this season and Bent claims his strike partner’s form is a major plus for Sunderland.

“Kenwyne was great [especially] against Wigan; he played really well and showed what he’s all about,” Bent said in his weekly video blog on SAFC TV

“He held the ball up well, was strong, scored a great goal and hit the post as well. It’s nice to see him roaring and showing people what he can do because he is a fantastic player.”

But even with an on form Bent and Jones it has hard to imagine Sunderland coming away with much from The Emirates, where Arsenal have only dropped 8 points this season.