The draw for the Carling Cup semi-finals has just been made and Aston Villa have been drawn against the winner from the Blackburn vs Chelsea game. That game was a 2-2 stalemate after full time, but Blackburn are currently 3-2 up in extra time. [Update] Chelsea equalised in the final minute of extra time, but Blackburn won a dramatic penalty shoot out to set up the Semi-Final against Villa.

I believe Villa will play the second leg at Villa Park and even though it will be an impressive achievement to get past Chelsea, surely we would prefer to play Blackburn in the semi-final? It’s also ironic that Villa have also been drawn to play Blackburn in the FA Cup 3rd Round to be played in January.

This of course means that the other semi-final is a derby affair between the red and blue sides of Manchester.