| Carling Cup, League Cup | |
|---|---|
 Tottenham and Chelsea players lined up before the final | |
| Tournament details | |
| Country | England Wales |
| Teams | 92 |
| Defending champions | Chelsea |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Tottenham Hotspur(4th title) |
| Runners-up | Chelsea |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Eduardo Frank Lampard Michael Mifsud (4 goals) |
The2007–08 Football League Cup (known as theCarling Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 48th staging of theFootball League Cup, a knock-out competition for the top 92football clubs played inEnglish football league system. The winners qualified for thefirst round of the2008–09 UEFA Cup, if not already qualified for European competitions.
The competition began on 13 August 2007, and ended with thefinal on 24 February 2008.Wembley Stadium inLondon hosted the final match for the first time since its major renovation completed.
The tournament was won byTottenham Hotspur, who beat holdersChelsea 2–1 in the final, thanks to goals fromDimitar Berbatov andJonathan Woodgate.Didier Drogba scored the opener for Chelsea.
The 72Football League clubs started in the first round, which was divided into North and South sections. Each section was divided equally into a pot of seeded clubs and a pot of unseeded clubs. Clubs' rankings depended upon their finishing position in the2006–07 season. Therefore, the clubs relegated from the Premier League in 2007;Watford,Charlton Athletic (south) andSheffield United (north) were the top seeds, and the clubs newly promoted to the Football League,Morecambe andDagenham & Redbridge, were bottom seeds in north and south sections respectively.
The 36 winners from the first round joined the 12Premier League clubs not participating in European competitions in the second round.
| Tie no | Home team | Score1 | Away team | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plymouth Argyle | 2–0 | Doncaster Rovers | 5,133 |
| 2 | Southend United | 2–0 | Watford | 5,554 |
| 3 | Nottingham Forest | A–A | Leicester City | |
| Original match abandoned due to serious player illness; rematch took place on 18 September. | ||||
| Rematch | Nottingham Forest2 | 2–3 | Leicester City | 15,519 |
| 4 | Wigan Athletic | 0–1 | Hull City | 5,440 |
| 5 | Birmingham City | 2–1 | Hereford United | 10,185 |
| 6 | Carlisle United | 0–2 | Coventry City | 5,744 |
| 7 | Bristol Rovers | 1–2 | West Ham United | 10,831 |
| 8 | Derby County | 1–1 | Blackpool | 8,658 |
| 2–2 after extra time – Blackpool won 7–6 on penalties | ||||
| 9 | Rochdale | 1–1 | Norwich City | 2,990 |
| After extra time – Norwich won 4–3 on penalties | ||||
| 10 | Portsmouth | 3–0 | Leeds United | 8,502 |
| 11 | Cardiff City | 1–0 | Leyton Orient | 6,150 |
| 12 | Milton Keynes Dons | 2–2 | Sheffield United | 7,943 |
| Sheffield United won 3–2 after extra time | ||||
| 13 | Burnley | 3–0 | Oldham Athletic | 7,317 |
| 14 | Swansea City | 0–0 | Reading | 12,027 |
| Reading won 1–0 after extra time | ||||
| 15 | Peterborough United | 0–2 | West Bromwich Albion | 4,917 |
| 16 | Shrewsbury Town | 0–1 | Fulham | 6,223 |
| 17 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 1–1 | Morecambe | 11,296 |
| Morecambe won 3–1 after extra time | ||||
| 18 | Middlesbrough | 2–0 | Northampton Town | 11,686 |
| 19 | Sheffield Wednesday | 1–1 | Hartlepool United | 8,751 |
| Sheffield Wednesday won 2–1 after extra time | ||||
| 20 | Luton Town | 3–0 | Sunderland | 4,401 |
| 21 | Wrexham | 0–5 | Aston Villa | 8,221 |
| 22 | Charlton Athletic | 4–3 | Stockport County | 8,022 |
| 23 | Newcastle United | 2–0 | Barnsley | 30,523 |
| 24 | Bristol City | 1–2 | Manchester City | 19,941 |
1 Score after 90 minutes
2 As Nottingham Forest were leading 1–0 at the time of the abandonment of the first meeting, they were given a "free goal" by Leicester City, who allowed ForestgoalkeeperPaul Smith to dribble up the pitch uncontested and score straight from the kick-off.[1]
The 24 winners from the second round joined the eightPremier League clubs participating in European competitions in the third round. The draw was made on 1 September.[2] Matches were played on 25 September and 26 September.
| Tie no | Home team | Score1 | Away team | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blackburn Rovers | 3–0 | Birmingham City | 9,205 |
| 2 | Reading | 2–4 | Liverpool | 23,563 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 0–2 | Coventry City | 74,055 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 2–0 | Middlesbrough | 32,280 |
| 5 | Hull City | 0–4 | Chelsea | 23,543 |
| 6 | Blackpool | 1–1 | Southend United | 5,022 |
| Blackpool won 2–1 after extra time | ||||
| 7 | West Ham United | 1–0 | Plymouth Argyle | 25,774 |
| 8 | Arsenal | 2–0 | Newcastle United | 60,004 |
| 9 | Luton Town | 1–1 | Charlton Athletic | 4,534 |
| Luton Town won 3–1 after extra time | ||||
| 10 | Manchester City | 1–0 | Norwich City | 20,938 |
| 11 | Sheffield United | 5–0 | Morecambe | 8,854 |
| 12 | Sheffield Wednesday | 0–3 | Everton | 16,463 |
| 13 | Fulham | 1–1 | Bolton Wanderers | 10,500 |
| Bolton Wanderers won 2–1 after extra time | ||||
| 14 | Burnley | 0–1 | Portsmouth | 8,202 |
| 15 | Aston Villa | 0–1 | Leicester City | 25,956 |
| 16 | West Bromwich Albion | 2–4 | Cardiff City | 14,085 |
1 Score after 90 minutes
The draw for the fourth round was made on 29 September 2007 and matches were played in the week commencing 29 October.
| Tie no | Home team | Score1 | Away team | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luton Town | 0–0 | Everton | 8,944 |
| Everton won 1–0 after extra time | ||||
| 2 | Portsmouth | 1–2 | Blackburn Rovers | 11,788 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 4–3 | Leicester City | 40,037 |
| 4 | Sheffield United | 0–3 | Arsenal | 16,971 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspur | 2–0 | Blackpool | 32,196 |
| 6 | Bolton Wanderers | 0–1 | Manchester City | 15,510 |
| 7 | Coventry City | 1–2 | West Ham United | 23,968 |
| 8 | Liverpool | 2–1 | Cardiff City | 41,780 |
1 Score after 90 minutes
The draw for the fifth round was made on 3 November 2007. Matches were played in the week beginning 17 December 2007, with the exception of the match betweenWest Ham United andEverton, which was played on 12 December due to Everton's commitments in theUEFA Cup.
| West Ham United | 1–2 | Everton |
|---|---|---|
Cole 12' | Osman 40' Yakubu 88' |
| Chelsea | 2–0 | Liverpool |
|---|---|---|
| Lampard 59' Shevchenko 90' | Report |
| Blackburn Rovers | 2–3 (a.e.t.) | Arsenal |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz 42',60' | Diaby 6' Eduardo 29',104' |
The semi-final draw was made on 19 December 2007 at 22:00GMT. Unlike the other rounds, the semi-final ties were played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The ties were played in the weeks beginning 9 January and 21 January 2008.
| Arsenal | 1–1 | Tottenham Hotspur |
|---|---|---|
| Walcott 79' | Report | Jenas 37' |
Chelsea won 3–1 on aggregate
| Tottenham Hotspur | 5–1 | Arsenal |
|---|---|---|
| Jenas 3' Bendtner 27' (o.g.)Keane 48'Lennon 60'Malbranque 90+4' | Report | Adebayor 70' |
Tottenham won 6–2 on aggregate
The 2008 League Cup Final was played on 24 February 2008 and was the first to be played atWembley Stadium since2000.
