Chelsea v Manchester City: Carabao Cup final – live!

10 min: Fairly clear, now, that Chelsea are taking the conservative approach. But they cause a flutter now as a long switch from Emerson beats a badly positioned Laporte and almost sends Kante running clear. He is blocked off, legally, by Zinchenko but there were some brief howls of anguish from their fans.

8 min: The referee is Jonathan Moss, by the way. City keep pressing but Chelsea are offering up some spicy challenges and don’t look like giving up chances easily just now. Rudiger has stepped in well a couple of times already.

5 min: Yes, it’s a good start from City and now Aguero benefits from a ricochet and surges down the right, claiming a handball after a defender blocks his cross. Nothing is given.

3 min: City keeping the ball well early on. Has Sarri gone for the template that beat them in December?

1 min: Blimey – literally straight from kick-off Aguero tries to run past Jorginho and is sent flying by a stray arm. Looks very painful but he gets up, City take the free kick and then win an early corner …. which is cleared by Barkley.

The death of Sarriball or the birth of something beautiful?

It’s an interesting question, to be fair. I doubt if I can find the answers in the next four minutes, but if anyone has stats to hand then do whack them over.

The teams are striding out at Wembley right now – there’ll be meeting, greeting, pleasantries, anthems, and then we’ll be away!

Oh gosh, yes, and shame on me because I’m writing this a mere hop, skip, jump from Arsenal’s home. They beat Southampton 2-0 with early Lacazette and Mkhitaryan goals!

Joe Pearson writes: “Perversely, with respect to Europa League qualification, it doesn’t matter who wins this final (presuming the standings hold). If Chelsea wins, they qualify automatically. If City wins, the qualification falls to … Chelsea.”

That is true and a good point. The stakes for Chelsea and Sarri are even higher than that though, I think.

So does Pep, briefly!

“[The 6-0] was an incredibly important result for us but today is a final, a different competition, and hopefully we can play the game like a final deserves to be played.”

Sarri speaks!

“We have played every three days [since the 6-0] so it’s difficult to work on the pitch. We have talked a lot to try and improve. Two months ago we played [City] and won with a match of very great application. We know we can do better and better.

“I cannot understand why you ask me [about his future] because you know very well I can only give my opinion. You have to ask the club.”

We were not regaled with his opinion.

“Chelsea playing the same frontline that beat City 2-0 late last year,” notes Neil Bailey, and he has a point. Strange game, that was, because Chelsea got a grip of it after reverting very much to Plan B – ceding possession, basically.

It finished goalless at Old Trafford, and was rather a slog. Half an hour til this one now …

Very nice from Paul Wilson, this, on how Chelsea could learn from City’s example:

The quality in United v Liverpool has been … lacking, shall we say. We’ll get better at Wembley, surely. Chelsea fans: right call to leave Higuain on the bench?

Don’t know if you’ve heard, but there’s another game on at the moment. Simon Burnton will take you through the delicately-poised last knockings of Manchester United v Liverpool and then I’ll have much more from this one. Get your thoughts and predictions in to me, in the meantime!

Chelsea: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Rüdiger, David Luiz, Emerson, Kanté, Jorginho, Barkley, Willian, Hazard, Pedro. Subs: Caballero, Christiansen, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi, Giroud, Higuain.

Manchester City: Ederson, Zinchenko, Laporte, Otamendi, Walker, Fernandinho, Silva, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Sterling, Aguero. Subs: Muric, Danilo, Kompany, Gundogan, Sane, Mahrez, Foden.

Strong from City, with Ederson in goal rather than Muric, who would usually expect to play in this competition. Guardiola is clearly desperate for the win. No Hudson-Odoi from the start for Chelsea despite his goal against Malmo on Thursday, but Jorginho and Hazard are among those to return – and Barkley starts. Higuain is on the bench. Presumably we will see Hazard as false nine, which tends to work well against lesser teams but not against good ones.

The sun’s out in north London, Wembley looks resplendent, you’d almost think it is May. But this is the League Cup final, rather than the FA Cup final, and the storylines around this one might well keep us going until the latter. Manchester City will be gagging to tick off the first of a potential four trophies, and retain this one in the process, make no mistake about that. If they lose today then the chance to achieve something historic, if not massively likely, is gone. But for Chelsea there is something quite different at play.

Chelsea last won this competition four years ago and would love to again. Should they fall short then you’d fancy that Maurizio Sarri is done for; that Chelsea’s revamp is over before it really began and that an exhausting cycle of upheaval starts over again? It was a 6-0 defeat at City a mere fortnight ago that suggested the goose was cooked – anything close to that would surely seal the deal today although I, for one, suspect we’re in for something much chancier because that is how football tends to go.

Players want to win stuff, that’s the bottom line, and Chelsea’s team of seasoned internationals will be desperate to do that today. There’s no way City are six goals better than Chelsea on a normal day; this isn’t a normal day but it’s a cup final and that’s usually a great leveller. Will it be enough?

My view: whatever happens today you can’t ditch Sarri, because it was obvious *before they even got him in* that he wasn’t simply an instant-results guy, that this would take a year or two to develop and if they go away from that now then, under the current ownership, Chelsea are just going to confirm themselves as a basket case. Do what City did with Pep and let things grow over a quiet-ish first campaign! Has Sarri been hoist by the petard of such a fantastic start to the season, which even saw Chelsea being breathlessly suggested as title contenders in those early weeks? I think that, too. The football in recent weeks really hasn’t been good but he needs longer to get his own people, and ideas, in – not just Jorginho, whose new status as the fans’ fall guy seems entirely unreasonable and simply a deflection.

Anyway. Will today be the day it all turns for Chelsea and Sarri? Is this all just a jaunty diversion from the inevitable either way? Is it the start of something quiet fabulous for a City side who haven’t always reached last season’s heights? So much to ponder, so little time: we’re off, off and away at 4.30pm UK time. So get your thoughts in via email and/or Twitter right now!