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The League Cup was established back in 1960 as part of the Football Association's battle against the growing popularity of the European Cup which was played on weeknights.
Unlike the much older and established FA Cup competition, the League Cup was also played on weekday nights.
The format of the tournament, unlike the FA Cup, was that it was open only to clubs in the League pyramid; at the time that included the First, Second and Third divisions of English Football. No non-league clubs were able to take part. Also the semi-finals and final were two-legged. The final was changed to a single match from 1967. The tradition of a two-legged semi-final has remained to this day.
The first winners of the trophy were Aston Villa, who defeated Rotherham United in the inaugural final which was played over two legs in August and September 1961.
From the 1996-97 season, all clubs involved in European competition have received a bye to the third round of the competition as the FA sought to assist these teams in prevented fixture congestion.
As of the current season of the League Cup, extra time was scrapped from every round aside from the final with all ties level at full time progressing straight to a penalty shootout. This, again, is due to fixture congestion in the English game.
The League Cup is a tournament that has had an on again/off again relationship with leading Premier League teams for many years, with many managers electing to field youthful looking sides to keep their squads fresh for Premier League fixtures, so great are the financial rewards in that competition. However, this hasn't prevented many of the country's top sides from winning the tournament.
In this slideshow, we look back at the five most successful teams in the near sixty-year history of the competition.
#5 Manchester City (Five wins, one runner up)
Manchester City's 1976 League Cup success was the last piece of major silverware the club won until the 2011 FA Cup. It was a long period without success but despite that fallow period, City have had great success in the League Cup.
The 1976 win was their second victory; their first had come in 1970 when they had overcome West Bromwich Albion 2-1 in a memorable final.
City's dominance in the competition, however, has come this decade, with three further wins in 2014, 2016 and 2018. Manuel Pellegrino became the first City manager to win two League Cups during his tenure as boss. The current City manager, Pep Guardiola can become the second in 2019 should City overcome Chelsea in this year's final.
A 2019 victory would also mark the first time City have defended the trophy and would also be their sixth success which would in turn catapult them to second on this list.
#4 Chelsea (Five wins, two runner-ups)
The League Cup was the first trophy won under Roman Abramovich's Chelsea revolution which began back in summer 2003.
Under the tutelage of Jose Mourinho, Chelsea won the first of their many trophies under the Russian billionaire as they secured the League Cup in a thrilling 3-2 extra time victory over Liverpool in 2005.
That victory marked the club's third success in the competition following wins in 1965 and 1998.
Chelsea and Mourinho won the title again in 2007 in a hard fought battle with Arsenal. The club did not taste a fifth success in the tournament until Mourinho returned to the club for a second stint in 2013. They won their most recent League Cup in 2015 with a victory over Tottenham.
However, following Mourinho's departure, Chelsea had not been past the Semi-Final since until their victory over Tottenham in this year's Semi-Final bout.
Can they make it a sixth League Cup win over Manchester City in this year's final?
#3 Aston Villa (Five wins, three runner ups)
Aston Villa were the inaugural League Cup Champions way back in 1961 when they defeated Rotherham United over two legs to secure the trophy.
Villa secured two further titles in the 1970s with slim victories over Norwich City and Everton respectively.
However, it is there impressive wins in the 1990s that are best remembered by fans today. In 1994, they upset Manchester United 3-1 to deny the Red Devils a domestic Treble as United later went on to secure a Premier League and FA Cup Double.
Two years later and Villa were in impressive form once more when they comfortably dispatched Leeds United 3-0 in the 1996 final.
To date, that victory remains Villa's last major trophy win. In 2010, almost a quarter of a century later, the Villans met United once more in a repeat of the 1994 final. However, on this occasion, it would be Sir Alex Ferguson's men who would lift the coveted pot.
#2 Manchester United (Five wins, four runner-ups)
For the longest time, Manchester United were the bridesmaids and not the brides when it came to the League Cup.
United were beaten finalists in 1983 and 1991 before they won their very first League Cup trophy in 1992, 31 years after the tournament's inception.
They lost out in the final twice more in 1994, denying the club, a domestic treble, and in 2003 to fierce rivals, Liverpool.
In truth, however, during the latter half of the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s, then-United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson used the competition primarily as an opportunity to give his club's youth players valuable first-team experience. During this period, United suffered the ignominy of some humiliating defeats versus lower division opposition such as York City, Ipswich Town and West Bromwich Albion.
With the club in a fallow period of League and European success, the competition took on greater significance for United in the 2005-06 season and United finally won their second title with a thumping 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic. Further titles followed in 2009 and 2010 with United besting Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa in memorable finals.
In 2016-17, Jose Mourinho became the first man not named Sir Alex Ferguson to win a League Cup title with United.
Mourinho's United won a terrific final 3-2 versus Southampton with a late Zlatan Ibrahimovic winner to deny the side from the South Coast who had valiantly fought back from 2-0 down.
#1 Liverpool (Eight wins, four runner-ups)
Liverpool are the most successful team in the history of the League Cup. Their first triumph came way back in 1981 which kicked off an incredible love affair with the tournament which saw the Reds win the next three League Cups in succession. Four trophies in four years was a spectacular return for the most dominant side of the 1980s.
After winning four in a row, Liverpool had to wait over a decade for their fifth title which came in 1995 when they overcame Bolton Wanderers 2-1 at Wembley.
Their sixth title did not come until the turn of the century when it came as part one of a historic Treble, as the club would go on to win the FA Cup and UEFA Cup under the management of Gerard Houllier in 2001.
It took just two years for them to return to the summit of the League Cup as they added an unprecedented seventh title when they defeated their fierce rivals, Manchester United in an exciting final in 2003 which saw the side defeat the soon to be Premier League Champions.
The return of Kenny Dalglish as manager did not yield much success for the club but it did result in a record extended eight League Cup triumph when they edged out Cardiff City on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
After exiting the competition in the third round in 2018-19, Liverpool will have to wait till next season to see if they can add a ninth title but really given their past success, who would bet against
