This weekend's programme of matches in England features the League Cup final which will be played at the Wembley Stadium tomorrow for the first time since the venue was re-opened following reconstruction. The main protagonists of the showdown are London rivals Chelsea, the holders, and Tottenham.

The past seven finals of the competition were played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff with Chelsea winning two of them.

Besides, this is the second consecutive final to be contested by two London clubs. Last year, Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-1.

This is the 48th final since the competition was launched way back in 1961. The first six were played on a home and away basis. In 1967, the competition was decided in a one-off match at Wembley with Queens Park Rangers toppling West Bromwich Albion 3-2.

The all-time League Cup winners' list is topped by Liverpool with seven honours. Chelsea have won the cup four times and Tottenham lifted the silverware three times.

1965: Chelsea beat Leicester City 3-2 on aggregate.
1971: Tottenham beat Aston Villa 2-0.
1973: Tottenham beat Norwich 1-0.
1998: Chelsea beat Middlesbrough 2-0.
1999: Tottenham beat Leicester 1-0.
2005: Chelsea beat Liverpool 3-2.
2007: Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-1.

Tottenham have lost the final on two occasions: (1982) Liverpool 1-3, (2002) Blackburn Rovers 1-2; Chelsea finished losing finalists once in (1972) vs Stoke City 1-2.

Last year, Chelsea beat Arsenal by the odd goal in three with Didier Drogba hitting a brace for the Blues while Theo Walcott responded for the Gunners. The match also saw three players given their marching orders - Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor, of Arsenal, and Chelsea's John Obi Mikel.

Grant vs Ramos

At Wembley, Israel's Avram Grant and Spaniard Juande Ramos will proudly lead their teams as they seek their first honour in the English game.

Both managers took over after the season had started. Grant replaced Jose Mourinho on September 9 at Stamford Bridge, while Ramos came in for Martin Jol on October 29 at White Hart Lane.

Grant proved that he is not the stop-gap appointment as critics and fans first thought when Roman Abramovich appointed him for the sacked Mourinho. He is doing a remarkable job and has been rewarded with a new contract.

Grant is pleased that both Frank Lampard and captain John Terry are back from injury while Michael Ballack is finally showing his best form since his move to the London club in 2006.

Ramos's coaching style has rubbed off to the players and has persuaded Jermain Jenas, Aaron Lennon and Steed Malbranque, along with Robbie Keane, that they can still win honours with Tottenham.

Yet, the man with the silky touch, who can score goals with his back to the goal, is Dimitar Berbatov. The Bulgarian ace can instill that killer instinct and help Spurs end a nine-year trophy drought.

Ramos had described Berbatov as the finest striker not involved in Europe's top club competition, the Champions League. Berbatov's target remains to play in this tournament, and hence Ramos must offer his striker a 'silver lining' to keep him at White Hart Lane next season.

Both managers have indeed done well since they took over as their teams are also involved in Europe - Chelsea in the Champions League and Tottenham in the UEFA Cup.

Ramos led his former club Sevilla to successive UEFA Cup victories.

In 2006 they humbled Middlesbrough 4-0 in the final in Eindhoven, and last year they edged Espanyol in a penalty shoot-out. On their way to the final, Ramos had helped Sevilla eliminate Tottenham 4-3 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.

Chelsea can also go all the way to win the championship race, still in contention in third place behind leaders Arsenal and runners-up Manchester United.

Head to head

This season, in the Premiership, Chelsea have beaten Tottenham 2-0 (Belletti, Wright-Phillips) at Stamford Bridge and the return was incidentally scheduled for this weekend but has now been put back to Wednesday, March 19.

In past commitments in the League Cup, Chelsea hold the upper hand 3-1 on wins (two matches ended as draws) as follows:

2001-02 (semi-finals)
Chelsea-Tottenham 2-1
Tottenham-Chelsea 5-1

1990-91 (fifth round)
Chelsea-Tottenham 0-0
Tottenham-Chelsea 0-3

1971-72 (semi-finals)
Tottenham-Chelsea 2-2
Chelsea-Tottenham 3-2

Mifsud leading scorer in competition

Maltese star player Michael Mifsud, currently on the books of Coventry City in the Championship, is leading the charts for the top marksmen in the League Cup with four goals along with Lampard (Chelsea) and Eduardo Da Silva (Arsenal).

The following players have scored three goals each:

Lee Bradbury (Southend); Roque Luis Santa Cruz (Blackburn); Aiyegbeni Yakubu (Everton); Fernando Torres (Liverpool); Lionel Ainsworth (Hereford).

If things remain as they are, Mifsud will go down in the annals of the League Cup competition as top goal scorer.