Sir Alex Ferguson mused that the Carling Cup final might be a good moment to rest Wayne Rooney. He may well have been teasing and Martin O'Neill, his opposite number at Aston Villa, would never believe a word of it. Both managers are in earnest about any available trophy and Manchester United will be wary of a side that has won at Old Trafford this season. Villa are not known as prolific scorers and much will depend on the harm they can do to Ferguson's defence, which has rarely seemed at full strength in this campaign. Kevin McCarra
Venue Wembley Stadium
Tickets Sold out
Last season n/a
Referee P Dowd
This season's league matches 22 Y69, R4, 3.32 cards per game
Odds Aston Villa 15-4 Man Utd 13-15 Draw 13-5
Aston Villa
Subs from Guzan, L Young, Sidwell, Delfouneso, Davies, Delph, Carew, Beye, Clark, Albrighton, Lowry
Doubtful None
Injured Harewood (foot, May), Reo-Coker (foot, May), Bouma (ankle, unknown)
Suspended None
Form guide (all competitions) WWDDDW
Disciplinary record (all competitions) Y55 R2
Leading scorer (all competitions) Agbonlahor 14
Manchester United
Subs from Kuszczak, Van der Sar, Brown, Neville, Carrick, Scholes, Berbatov, Obertan, Macheda, Diouf, Fabio, De Laet
Doubtful None
Injured Ferdinand (back, 10 Mar), Giggs (arm, 14 Mar), O'Shea (thigh, May), Anderson (knee, Sep), Hargreaves (knee, unknown)
Suspended Nani (last of three)
Form guide (all competitions) WLWDWW
Disciplinary record (all competitions) Y54 R5
Leading scorer (all competitions) Rooney 27
Match pointers
• Manchester United have lost one of their last 26 meetings with Aston Villa in all competitions
• Only Liverpool (seven times) have won this trophy more often than Villa, who have triumphed on five occasions as well as being runners-up twice
• No side has been runner-up in the League Cup more often than United (four times)
• If Villa win it will be their 50th all-time victory over United in all competitions
• United have played at the new Wembley six times and have yet to win without the aid of a penalty shoot-out
