The first major trophy of the 2019-20 season will be decided on Sunday when Aston Villa take on defending champions Manchester City in the EFL Cup final at Wembley, report agencies.
Just seven weeks on from Man City winning the corresponding Premier League fixture 6-1, Villa will be looking to pull off a major shock in order to claim their first silverware since 1996.
European matters have dominated the headlines surrounding Man City in recent weeks given their two-year ban for breaching Financial Fair Play rules and the famous victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night.
However, attention now comes back to the domestic game and, while it seems to be a case of when rather than if they will relinquish their hold on the Premier League title, there is no doubt that they remain the dominant force in cup competitions.
Including the Community Shield Man City have won seven of the last eight domestic cup finals available to top-flight teams and not since February 2018 - more than two years ago - have they been knocked out of the League or FA Cup, a run of 18 successive ties without elimination.
City have been especially dominant in this competition, lifting the trophy in each of the past two seasons and putting themselves within 90 minutes of a third successive crown - a feat only Liverpool, with four in a row between 1981 and 1984, have ever achieved before.
Indeed, Pep Guardiola's side are already only the third team to have reached three successive EFL Cup finals, and their stellar record stretches back even further with four of their six titles coming in the last six seasons.
City have certainly not been guilty of taking his competition lightly, then, and in recent times that is no doubt down to the desire of Guardiola to win every trophy he can.
Sunday will be the Catalan's 25th final as a top-flight manager and he has won an incredible 20 of the previous 24, including all five of his Wembley appearances as Man City boss when silverware has been on the line.
