Major finals often throw up some interesting little side stories and today’s Carling Cup clash between Liverpool and Cardiff is certainly no exception.

Finals are played on grass, not paper. You can never write off the underdogs in a cup competition

And this final’s quirky little aside comes in the tattooed and somewhat mouthy form of Welshman Craig Bellamy.

The diminutive Liverpool striker, despite a career that has seen him play for some of the biggest clubs over the past decade, has never won a trophy in England. So you would imagine he would be desperate to put that right at Wembley this afternoon.

But then again, maybe not. Because Bellamy just happens to be a lifelong, passionate and totally committed supporter of opponents Cardiff City.

Last season he even dropped down a division to join Cardiff on loan from Manchester City just to be able to fulfil his childhood dream of playing for his hometown club.

And that puts him in rather an awkward position today. On the one hand he will be desperate to play and score in the match and finally get his hands on a winners’ medal. On the other hand, doing so would be at the expense of the team he loves and supported from the terraces as a young boy. Tricky.

You often get examples of players having to turn out for their clubs against the teams they support. It happens week-in, week-out.

However, this is the first time in his entire career that Bellamy will be playing against Cardiff. And, thanks to a weird twist of fate, it just happens to be in a cup final.

In the build-up to the game, Bellamy has insisted that if he plays and happens to score he won’t celebrate his goal. Which is decent and respectful of him. But I still don’t envy the rather uncomfortable position he finds himself in.

As for the match itself, there is only one winner on paper. Liverpool have more talent, experience and ability across the entire pitch. But finals are played on grass, not paper, and you can never write off the underdogs in a cup competition.

To be honest, I think the win is far more important for Liverpool than Cardiff. Liverpool have not won a trophy since 2006 and Kenny Dalglish will be itching to get off the mark again and prove he has got his team on the right track.

Cardiff, meanwhile, are sitting pretty in the Championship, and promotion to the Premier League will be their main focus of the season. Especially having so narrowly missed out on it over recent years.

That different in pressure and expectation could ultimately play into Cardiff’s hands. Although I will still be putting my money on a comprehensive Liverpool win.

Bellamy, meanwhile, is going to be a winner and a loser whatever the result…

D-day for Wenger

For most of Arsene Wenger’s reign at Arsenal, derbies against their bitter north London rivals have been little more than a walk in the park. During the Frenchman’s first 14 years at the club, they only lost one of their league games to Tottenham Hotspur.

But that tide has most definitely turned, and Arsenal go into today’s match at the Emirates having only won one of the last seven meetings between the two sides. The balance of power has most definitely shifted, a fact that is evidenced by the 10-point lead Harry Redknapp’s team in third have over Wenger’s team in fourth.

Defeat today for Arsenal would stretch that gap to 13 points with 12 games to go and leave them in a dogfight for the final Champions League slot.

Just as importantly, however, defeat would leave Arsenal’s fans with nothing to take from the season. Their domestic challenge is over after Sunderland knocked them out of the FA Cup last weekend and their European campaign hangs by the thinnest of threads following their 4-0 defeat to Milan in the first leg of their Champions League clash.

The only thing they have left to cling to is winning the derby against their eternal rivals. Take that away and it could well be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Whatever happens in today’s match, it is now all but certain Arsenal will end this season trophyless, making it the seventh year in a row their silverware cupboard has been untroubled by new arrivals. And that, unbelievably, will make it the worst barren run in Arsenal’s history. Not the sort of record you would expect from someone like Wenger and one I am sure he never believed he would break.

I said it last week and I will say it again. I don’t see Wenger surviving beyond the end of this season. I just can’t see a way for him to justify the club’s current predicament.

If they were to fail to secure fourth spot, and that is possible considering how tight it is around that area, then I think his position would become totally untenable.

His only real hope is to placate the fans with a major overhaul of the playing staff in the close season. But there is no way he will attract the big-name players he needs without the lure of Champions League football.

Of course, a major victory today would change the perspective entirely. There is nothing like giving your local rivals a good hiding when it comes to getting the fans’ minds off the bigger picture.

But, given the form and make-up of the two teams, can anyone really see that happening? A draw at best would be my prediction. And we all know how accurate they tend to be.

AVB struggles on

And now from one London-based manager feeling the pressure to another – Chelsea’s Andre Villas-Boas.

I always said I thought this would be a rebuilding season for Chelsea and one in which they would struggle to win anything of note. And it looks like being just that. Equally, I always said the fans would struggle to accept a season of mediocrity. And again, it looks like I was right there, as the rumblings of discontent grow.

The question now is whether or not the club (and by club I obviously mean Roman Abramovich) will keep faith with AVB or hit the panic button again.

The Chelsea manager insists that, privately at least, he has the backing of Abramovich. So, in an effort to cement his position at the club, last week he called for that private backing to be made public.

But so far the only thing to come out of Stamford Bridge is deafening silence.

The reality is, however, that unlike Wenger, AVB has a shout at rescuing his season. Chelsea are still in the FA Cup, although they face a tricky replay against Birmingham City, and their 3-1 first-leg defeat to Napoli was not an entirely fatal blow to their Champions League hopes.

Personally I doubt Abramovich will wield the axe while there is still a chance of getting something out of the season.

Equally, if Chelsea were to crash out of both those contests then why not leave AVB in charge and let him get on with the rebuilding?

In short, unlike Wenger down the road, I think we may yet see Villas-Boas still in charge come the beginning of next season.

Then again, if the club don’t break their silence and give him the verbal backing he wants, you never know, he might just walk away himself.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade