The draw has been made for the third round of the League Cup and the round sees Manchester City face off against Championship side, and current Cup holders Birmingham City.
Since their relegation from the Premiership the Midlands club has struggled. So far they have only managed four points from the first four games and I think possibly their League Cup win last season, qualifying them for European Football, may have shifted the players focus away from the League.
In addition to this, Birmingham have also lost the manager that masterminded that League Cup win left for rivals Aston Villa and instead Chris Houghton. Also, off the field Birmingham have had concerns with their Chairman, after Carson Yeung was arrested at his home in Hong Kong in connection with alleged money laundering.
Make no mistake though, Birmingham can still cause City problems if the Premier League side isn’t focused fully.
In fact the Cup history between these two teams is quite interesting. The last time these two teams met in the League Cup, Manchester City ran out comfortable winners 6-0 with four goals from Huckerby, one from Goater and Luntala with a goal.
That was a round four game and despite the convincing win City couldn’t progress further, getting eliminated by Blackburn in the very next round. There was another 6-0 result in the League Cup on December 1962, this time it was a round five game and the result was in favor of the Midlands team.
In other Cup competitions, how City got on against Birmingham is totally dependant on where the game takes place. Games that took place in the FA Cup in 1927, 1929, 1947 and 1951 between these two teams all resulted in Birmingham wins and only two City goals. All four were played in Birmingham. However, the meetings in 1913, 1956 and 2001 were all Manchester City wins, two were played in Manchester and obviously the 1956 was the 3-1 FA Cup Final win.
Birmingham have won the League Cup just as many times as their Manchester rivals. The most recent win came last season against Arsenal, and the previous one was a two legged affair against Aston Villa in which Brum beat out their neighbors 3-1. Like Manchester City, Birmingham have also appeared and lost in a third Final. That was against Liverpool and was lost on penalties.
Onto Manchester City, everything with City and their participation in the Finals has happened in the 1970’s.
The first win was achieved after extra time against another Midlands club, West Brom. Doyle and Pardoe were the goal scorers on that day to secure the win. Then 1976 saw, up until recently, City lift their last trophy. Again, it was a 2-1 win with Barnes and Tueart the City scorers that day against a Newcastle side.
Their unsuccessful appearance happened slap bang in the middle of the two victories, coming in 1974. Again, this was a 2-1 result but on this day the victors were yet another Midlands team, Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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