Our Official Direct Selling Partner, QNET, will be with the team every step of the way as we approach the Carabao Cup final, supporting City in our quest to lift the Club’s seventh League Cup.
QNET will collaborate across cup final content, games and other social media activities, bringing fans closer to the action through the Club’s digital platforms.
So, to get you in the mood and plan for the day ahead, take a look at the list of interesting facts and useful information below…
1. kick-off time and TV information
The game kicks-off at 16:30 (UK) on Sunday 1 March.
If you haven’t got a ticket to the game, then those in the UK can watch the action unfold on Sky Sports.
You can also follow every kick on mancity.com’s Matchday Centre, or via our Twitter: @ManCity.
For those outside the UK, check out our global TV listings to see how you can tune in, wherever you are in the world.
2. You can get 20% off rail travel
Cityzens travelling down to Wembley by train can get 20% off their tickets with Avanti West Coast.
To take advantage of this special offer, supporters need to have bought an Off-Peak ticket in advance.
The usual weekend timetable between Manchester Piccadilly and the capital has also been bolstered by two additional services to help ease congestion.
3. The man in the middle
Lee Mason has been chosen to officiate this season’s final.
It will be the fifth time he has taken charge of one of our games this season, with the others coming in wins over Preston, Southampton, Port Vale and Sheffield United.
In total, Mason has overseen 28 matches involving Man City, with us winning 20 of those, drawing three and losing five.
4. Three in a row
The saying normally goes that BAD things come in threes but, if we overcome Villa at the start of March, we will have well and truly busted that myth.
We put Arsenal to the sword with a 3-0 win back in 2018, our first piece of silverware under Pep Guardiola, before eclipsing Chelsea on penalties in last season’s final.
A win under the famous arch would put us within touching distance of the record set by Liverpool between 1981 and 1985.
5. Familiar faces
Since the Carabao Cup’s inception back in 1960, both ourselves and Aston Villa have been in an impressive fifteen finals in total.
We have lifted the trophy six times - the second most in history - while the Villans, who were the inaugural winners back in 1960, have tasted victory on five occasions.
However, the Midlands outfit are statistically the most successful side in the competition’s history, with six more wins (140) than any other team since that first edition 59 years ago.
6. Guardiola’s Cup success
Pep Guardiola and winning trophies go hand in hand, but he has a particularly impressive record in this competition.
This is the boss’ fourth season at the Etihad Stadium and, in that time, he has reached the Carabao Cup final on three occasions.
With Guardiola at the helm, we have won 17 out of 19 games including penalty shootouts, scoring 39 goals and conceding just 10.
7. Wembley record
Since our first appearance at the new Wembley back in 2011, we have tasted victory on 10 occasions.
Four of those have come in the Carabao Cup showpiece, from Yaya Toure’s incredible long-range strike against Sunderland through to Raheem Sterling’s postage-stamp penalty in last season’s win over Chelsea.
In that time, we have only been beaten on three occasions, and none of those have come with Guardiola at the helm.
8. Five finals under Pep
In fact, our record under Guardiola at the national stadium is impeccable.
We have tasted victory in all five of our visits since the Spaniard took over as boss in 2016, picking up one FA Cup, two Community Shields and two Carabao Cups along the way.
Can we make it six out of six against Aston Villa on 1 March?
9. Aguero’s record-breaker
Arriving in Manchester back in 2011, Sergio Aguero is without question one of the greatest players to don the City blue.
Our all-time highest goalscorer brought another record tumbling down when we last faced the Villans.
Aguero needed two goals to become the highest scoring overseas player in Premier League history when we travelled to Villa Park back in January; but the Argentine went one better, grabbing his 12th hat-trick in our incredible 6-1 win.
The treble also moved him level with Frank Lampard on 177 goals, capping off a game which will live long in the memory of everyone associated with Manchester City.
10. City trio on the cusp of history
Three of Pep Guardiola‘s players will re-write the history books if they feature against Dean Smith’s side.
If any of Fernandinho, David Silva or Sergio Aguero get the nod on 1 March, they will be playing in their fifth Carabao Cup final, a record-equalling milestone.
They would join an illustrious list containing Ryan Giggs, Emile Heskey and Petr Cech, who all lifted the trophy on three occasions.
If Guardiola’s men taste victory, then Fernandinho, Silva and Aguero will have arguably gone one better though, having retained an incredible 100% record at the final hurdle.
