Middlesbrough looking to Juninho's skill

TOMORROW'S League Cup Final final at Wembley should be a more memorable affair than the majority of its 30 predecessors. Since these finals rarely stay in the mind much beyond the following Tuesday that may not be saying a lot, but the scenario is unusually intriguing.

Whoever wins, Leicester City or Middlesbrough, will have triumphed in a major final for the first time. This will also be the last time that the winners qualify for a place in Europe, the sop that persuaded the bigger English clubs to compete in what they had originally regarded as a selling plater.

All the more apt, therefore, that this year's finalists should have removed Manchester United and Liverpool along the way, even if the United team beaten 2-0 at Filbert Street in the fourth round was heavily laced with reserves.

Essentially the match will be a remake of the Odd Couple, with the prim Jack Lemmon role going to Martin O'Neill's honest, industrious Leicester team while Middlesbrough assume Walter Matthau's raffish character a disaster waiting to happen but capable of performing extraordinary deeds in the meantime.

This season Teesside has made up for all those humdrum decades of non eventfulness which culminated in the Official Receiver padlocking Ayresome Park and taking the key home. Middlesbrough have reached one final and are on the brink of another. A week tomorrow Chesterfield will stand between Bryan Robson's players and a quick return to Wembley in the FA Cup.

Running counterpoint to all this has been Middlesbrough's slightly bizarre struggle to stay in the Premiership despite the presence in their side of three leading foreigners - Ravanelli, Juninho and, from time to time, Emerson. A recent surge of form, inspired by Juninho, suggests they will survive. After all, to reach two finals and still go down would stretch the Wildean definition of carelessness beyond credulity.

Tomorrow the odds will favour Middlesbrough, and not merely because they beat the opposition 3-1 at Filbert Street three weeks ago. Juninho may have been to the other side of the world and back this week but Brazilian players have long since learned to take this sort of thing in their stride and it will be surprising if his game shows any sign of jet lag.

Juninho's skill, speed and vision, combined with Ravanelli's determination to fill both cups with goals, may prove too much for a Leicester side who could have done without Elliott being ineligible. O'Neill will put his faith in Claridge, Heskey and Parker, who will play at Wembley provided the condition of his prematurely born baby daughter does not worsen.

While Steve Claridge is undoubtedly right when he insists that winning the League Cup cannot compare, for significance with beating Crystal Palace in last year's First Division play off final, Leicester City's supporters will feel that they are long overdue the chance of something silver to cheer. During the 20 years between 1949 and 1969 Leicester reached four FA Cup finals and lost the lot.

"The Premiership is still the most important thing," said O'Neill, "but having got to a final you may as well try to win it. I was there with Nottingham Forest in 1980 when we lost to Wolves, and it was not a good day." At least O'Neill had been a member of Brian Clough's League Cup winning teams in 1978 and 1979.

With Guppy and Marshall also cup tied and Ullathorne recovering from a broken leg, Leicester's team selection should be straightforward. Rob son has to decide if he needs Blackmore's experience instead of the younger legs of Cox or Fleming.

Compactness and the denial of space to the opposition are the keys to Leicester's success this season. Heskey's speed and Claridge's ability to hold the ball under pressure are both important but Leicester are, most dangerous at set pieces, given Parker's way with free kicks and corners and Walsh's power in the air. Juninho represents Middlesbrough's best chance of victory. The Brazilian will have to work hard to find space in a crowded midfield and Lennon will try to, track him down, but Juninho relishes this kind challenge. He is bound to find angles for runs and passes which will create chances for Ravanelli, not to mention himself.