United go into cup final in red-hot winning run

The first major silverware of the English season will be decided today when Manchester United face Southampton in the EFL Cup final at London's Wembley Stadium.

José Mourinho surprised a few pundits by playing most of his star names against St Etienne in the Europa League on Wednesday despite the fact that United went into that clash with a 3-0 advantage from the first leg.

And while the Red Devils punched out a 1-0 win in France, the victory came at a cost with Michael Carrick and Henrikh Mkhitaryan hobbling off with calf and hamstring injuries respectively and are doubtful starters for today's clash.

Nevertheless it was a fifth straight win for Mourinho's men, who are 8/11 to beat The Saints.

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United have now lost just one of their last 25 matches in all competitions and such ominous form has made them favourites today.

However, it's worth remembering that Southampton are here on merit: they beat Arsenal and got past Liverpool over two legs after a titanic tussle in the semifinals.

It may be a first League Cup final since 1979 for the south coast club, but they have, rather incredibly, yet to concede a goal in the competition en route to the final.

When the teams met in the league back in August, United ran out 2-0 winners at Old Trafford with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring twice.

The brilliant Swede has plundered a remarkable 74 goals since the start of last season, more than any other player in Europe.

The two EFL Cup final managers can both feel like show-stoppers, but for very different reasons.

Mourinho is eminently charismatic and invariably quotable, mixing forthright opinion and instructive insight with mischief-making and barely concealed jibes.

If Mourinho can't stop saying interesting things, it seems as though The Saints boss. Claude Puel, who projects an unremitting greyness, is the complete opposite.

But he has no qualms when it comes to predicting the outcome of today's final and believes history can repeat itself against United.

The only major trophy The Saints have won is the FA Cup in 1976, when they defeated United at Wembley.

Against Liverpool, it was all about their heroic defence and tactical excellence, with Puel confident a similar result and performance can be produced today.

"Now we go to Wembley, not just to participate, but to win this cup," he said. "I have only been there once before, just to watch France beat England. When you play a good team with great players it is important to stay focused."

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Spurs to overcome Stoke

Elsewhere today in the Premier League, it's hard to make a case for Stoke City claiming anything from their trip to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham Hotspur.

The Londoners are expected to bounce back after being knocked out of the Europa League by Belgian side Gent on Thursday.

Back in September Son Heung-Min bagged a brace as Spurs won 4-0 at the bet365 Stadium.

Since then, Spurs have been pretty consistent in the league. Stoke are going okay in ninth spot and will have had time to work on a few things at training and recharge their collective batteries having not had a match since beating Crystal Palace 1-0 on February 11.

Harry Kane was also on the scoresheet during Spurs' 4-0 win in September and the striker has now scored 10 goals in his last nine appearances for Tottenham in domestic competition.

The England man is unsurprisingly the favourite in the first goal-scorer market.

Mauricio Pochettino's men have kept more clean sheets at home than any team in the Premier League this season and their powerful, organised defence should be too savvy for a Stoke side that have scored just three goals in their last four games.

Barca the underdogs against Atletico

The big match in Spain today sees Barcelona head to Atletico Madrid.

These are tough times for Barca, who were routed 4-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash with Paris Saint-Germain last week and could be set to part company with manager Luis Enrique at the end of the season.

Much has been written about their electric forward trio of Luis Suarez, Neymar and Lionel Messi, but they don't look a particularly well-balanced team at the moment and, with injuries to key defensive personnel, look vulnerable.

Last Sunday they played poorly, but somehow claimed a messy 2-1 home win over Leganes.

However, defensively they were all over the shop at times in that match and if they put in the same type of performance against Atletico at the Vicente Calderon, they surely looked booked in for a defeat.

Since drawing 1-1 at the Camp Nou on February 7, Atletico have won three matches in a row and scored 11 goals in that period. They were brilliant in claiming a 4-2 Champions League win on the road at Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night and should arguably be favourites.