Liverpool: Tougher Road to Carling Cup Final Will Mean Victory Over Cardiff City

It's an understatement to say that Liverpool has had a tougher time than Cardiff City getting to Sunday afternoon's Carling Cup final.

It isn't enough to look merely at the competition Liverpool and Cardiff City faced in the tournament because the Carling Cup is surrounded by league games, the FA Cup and—if you're good enough—European tournaments like the Champions League and Europa.

When the Carling Cup campaign began in August, both sides were scheduled to play soft opponents. Liverpool began against League One bottom-feeders Exeter while Cardiff City beat up on League Two side Oxford United.

But while Liverpool's campaign was sandwiched between a tough trip to Emirates Stadium and a home match against a Bolton side that had good form early in the season, Cardiff City had the pleasure of starting their campaign three days before facing a relatively easy Bristol City.

In the next round, Liverpool faced a Brighton team that is every bit as good as Cardiff City in the Championship, while Cardiff City needed penalty kicks to knock off a Leicester City squad that has never been a threat in the Championship.

Here's where things got a bit steeper for Liverpool. In Round 4, they were matched with a Stoke City team that had previously knocked out title contenders Tottenham.

Cardiff City? Their opponent was Burnley. Burnley! Yet another overachieving, mid-table side from the Championship League.

It wasn't until the quarterfinals that Cardiff City faced a side from the Premier League, but even then it was a Blackburn squad that's on the verge of relegation. Meanwhile, Liverpool had their hands busy with a small club called Chelsea that you all may have heard of.

Then for the two-legged semifinals, Liverpool took on the best team in England—Manchester City. The first leg was in the middle of two weekends in which they faced Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup and traveled to Stoke City for a league match. The second leg was four days after visiting Bolton for a league match and three days before hosting Manchester City in the FA Cup.

Cardiff City lucked out with a draw against Crystal Palace, whom they needed penalty kicks (again!) to get past.

Now they meet on Sunday afternoon with Liverpool having faced not one, not two, but three clubs from the Premier League to reach the Carling Cup final. Cardiff City has faced one—who might be in the Championship at this point next year.