When Manchester City takes the pitch at Wembley Stadium against Liverpool on Sunday (11:25 a.m. ET, Bein Sports), history will not be on its side.
Liverpool has won this event on eight different occasions and were runners-up three more times. No team has won more league cups or appeared in as many finals.
Manchester City does have three league cups in its trophy cabinet, and lost in the final in another season. Let’s take a look at City’s history in this competition:
1970 – Manchester City 2-1 West Bromwich Albion
Just nine days after winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup, Manchester City won its first League Cup with a 2-1 win over West Brom at Wembley Stadium.
Mike Doyle scored an equalizer for City after Jeff Astle put the Baggies in front. The match went to extra time, where Glyn Pardoe scored the eventual match winner.
1974 – Manchester City 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
City reached the 1974 final, but fell short against Wolverhampton Wanderers, 2-1. Kenny Hibbitt and John Richards scored the goals for Wolves, while Colin Bell scored Manchester City’s lone goal.
1976 – Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle United
Two years later, City returned to the League Cup final, and lifted the trophy with a 2-1 win over Newcastle. Peter Barnes put City in front in the 11th minute, but Newcastle drew level in the 35th minute on an Alan Gowling strike.
Early in the second half, Dennis Tueart scored on an overhead kick to put City back on top, and the 2-1 score line stood for the rest of the match. City manager Tony Book became the first man to win the cup as both a player (1970) and a manager.
2014 – Manchester City 3-1 Sunderland
After a long absence from the Capital One Cup final, City reached one in 2014. It didn’t start well for City, as Fabio Borini put the Black Cats ahead in the 10th minute. But second-half goals from Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri and Jesus Navas powered Manchester City to the 3-1 victory.
The last time these two teams met, Liverpool delivered arguably the best effort of the Jurgen Klopp era with a 4-1 win over Manchester City.
So, City will be looking to buck recent — and less recent — history on Sunday.
