Worthington Cup final preview

Both teams head to The Millennium Stadium on the back of confidence-boosting victories in Europe, raising the expectation for a spectacle in the Welsh capital.

Whichever way the game pans out, Sunday's showpiece in Cardiff cannot fail to improve upon the last final meeting between the two English giants.

Only Eric Cantona's crisp volley illuminated the 1996 FA Cup final at Wembley in a drab contest which had been overshadowed by the Liverpool squad's cream suits.

The sole previous meeting between these clubs in this competition was 20 years ago when Liverpool triumphed 2-1 after-extra-time.

Sunday marks The Red Devils' first trip to The Millennium Stadium for a domestic cup final as they seek to avoid a second successive season without silverware.

Their solitary visit to the state-of-the-art venue was for the 2001 Charity Shield when they were beaten 2-1 by Liverpool and it is 11/1 for a repeat of that scoreline.

United have demonstrated a rare willingness to win the League Cup this term after treating it with disdain during the past decade, since their defeat to Aston Villa in 1994.

Sir Alex Ferguson has regularly fielded a strong side as United comfortably dispatched Leicester City and Burnley in earlier rounds before edging past Chelsea in the quarter finals.

A 1-1 draw in the first leg of their semi-final at home to Blackburn put their final place in jeopardy but a convincing 3-1 success at Ewood Park secured only United's fifth appearance in the final.

They have also lifted the League Cup on just one previous occasion when they overcame Nottingham Forest 1-0 (7/1) in 1992.

United boss Ferguson's key injury worry for the match concerns midweek Champions League hero Ryan Giggs.

The Welsh wizard bagged a brace in the stunning 3-0 success over Juventus before limping out with a calf injury and he is rated 50-50 to make the line-up.

Wes Brown is also doubtful and Diego Forlan is out but Paul Scholes and Mikael Silvestre are expected to be fit while Quinton Fortune is available for the first time since breaking his leg at Liverpool three months ago.

Liverpool's Uefa Cup triumph over Auxerre ensures there will still be some life left in their season irrespective of Sunday's outcome.

But despite crashing out of the Champions League and slipping out of the Premiership title race, The Reds cannot contemplate defeat to their arch-rivals.

The Reds are the most successful team in the history of the League Cup with six wins, most recently a penalty shoot-out triumph over Birmingham City two years ago.

Indeed, Liverpool have enjoyed their days out at The Millennium Stadium as they also poached the FA Cup at the expense of Arsenal in the same year they beat Blues.

A 1-0 reverse in the Community Shield to The Gunners back in August remains Gerard Houllier's troops' only loss at the Cardiff arena.

Revenge will also be on the minds of The Merseysiders after they were beaten 2-1 by United at Anfield in The Premiership at the start of December.

For goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek it will be a bittersweet moment if he can help his side to glory as he was responsible for gifting Forlan the opening goal.

Liverpool have survived the odd scare en route to Cardiff as they needed penalties to beat Ipswich in the fourth round after previously beating Southampton.

They sneaked past Aston Villa in a seven-goal thriller in the quarter finals before requiring extra-time to vanquish Sheffield United in the last four.

Houllier's chief injury concern for the match is Emile Heskey after the England striker picked up an ankle problem against Auxerre.

Vladimir Smicer's influential role as a substitute against the French side may earn him a recall to the starting line-up.

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