There are a few factors you might lean on when predicting the outcome of Saturday’s League Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester City.
You might think Chelsea being unbeaten under manager Sonia Bompastor is key.
Or perhaps you think that City’s ‘hail Mary’ interim appointment of former manager Nick Cushing will give them the winning boost.
But there is something that should not be ignored, something that has brought consecutive losses over the past three years for Chelsea: their League Cup final curse.
Chelsea’s relationship with the League Cup has always been strange. It was a trophy that had, for a while, seemed as elusive to former manager Emma Hayes as the Champions League.
During her reign, which started in 2012, they took until 2020 to reach the final, beating Arsenal 2-1. They won the next year too, beating Bristol City 6-0 in front of an empty Vicarage Road due to Covid-19 restrictions.
But since then, they have lost 3-1 to Manchester City, 3-1 to Arsenal, then 1-0 to Arsenal.
Given Chelsea’s dominance in the league and FA Cup during the same period — they won the Women’s Super League (WSL) title every season and the FA Cup final in two of the three — this is not about quality. It’s much deeper.
This is an investigation into a curse … maybe.
