Tepid.

Image source, Getty Images

Embarrassing.

Image source, EPA

Miserable.

Image source, Getty Images

Three of the disparaging adjectives used to describe the European performances of Premier League clubs this week. At least, one team managed to lift some of the gloom...

Image source, Getty Images

Get Inspired
With BBC Sport

Each week we team up with Get Inspired, the BBC initiative which aims to increase participation in sport, to hear tales about your own sporting experiences.

Today we want to know about the occasions you have missed out on playing in a big game. The quirkier the better.

David Flood: Hyper-extended my knee throwing a tantrum after my shot was blocked in a cup final. Carried off second half. Tad embarrassing...

Joshua McGrath: Today my team could win the U16 League, but I'm going to the Chelsea game. Fortunately the U16 game has been postponed.

Get in touch using #getinspired, external on Twitter or drop us a line on the BBC Sport Facebook, external or Google+ page., external

You can also text us on 81111 in the UK only - but please don't forget to add your name and location.

Image source, PA

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers on his team selection: "Daniel Sturridge is still in a post-injury phase really, so we're having to be careful with him. He's getting his fitness back in his game, and after travelling back after Thursday I felt it was too much of a risk to play him. Inside the next week or so he will be ready to play more regularly.

"Jordan Henderson wasn't left out on Thursday, he had a problem with his ankle. He has been a big influence on the team, Philippe Coutinho had also played in a lot of games, and I felt it was time to give him a rest.

"But with both of those coming back in today we have an exciting team, the players at the front like Raheem Sterling, Coutinho and Adam Lallana, they have helped a lot in this great run we have had. Hopefully we can keep that going today."

Image source, AP

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini on his team selection: "It is the same team that played the last Premier League game - the same team that beat Newcastle 5-0. Eliaquim Mangala did very well against Stoke and Newcastle so he deserves to play.

"We have not only scored nine goals in our last two Premier League matches, but we have only conceded one goal. That's why I decide to go with a similar team - I hope it is the same team which we have seen in the last two games."

Strike duo Daniel Sturridge and Mario Balotelli drop to the bench as Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers makes four changes from the side which lost at Besiktas on Thursday.

Liverpool XI: Mignolet, Can, Skrtel, Lovren, Henderson, Allen, Moreno, Markovic, Lallana, Coutinho, Sterling.

Powerhouse midfielder Yaya Toure returns to the Manchester City side after missing Tuesday's Champions League defeat by Barcelona through suspension.

Man City XI: Hart, Zabaleta, Mangala, Kompany, Kolarov, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, Silva, Nasri, Dzeko, Aguero.

BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

BBC Radio 5 live sports extra has full match coverage of the League Cup final between Chelsea and Tottenham, a 16:00 GMT kick-off at Wembley this afternoon.

And later this evening you can have your say on all the big football stories on 606 with Ian Wright and Kelly Cates from 18:06 on BBC Radio 5 live.

Get Inspired
With BBC Sport

Each week we team up with Get Inspired, the BBC initiative which aims to increase participation in sport, to hear tales about your own sporting experiences.

Today we want to know about the occasions you have missed out on playing in a big game. The quirkier the better.

Rob, Derby: I missed the first half of my team's (Mickleover Sports) away match against Ashby Ivanhoe earlier this season because my dog escaped from my house, later to be found in the local supermarket!

Neil: My sister's school play was the same day as my under 15 cup final. The standing ovation took 20 minutes, and I got to the game to see the cup being awarded.

Get in touch using #getinspired, external on Twitter or drop us a line on the BBC Sport Facebook, external or Google+ page., external

You can also text us on 81111 in the UK only - but please don't forget to add your name and location.

"The sun is shining, the weather is sweet, yeah." Reggae legend Bob Marley could have been singing about Anfield this morning.

This part of Liverpool is basking in March sunshine ahead of the day's first Premier League match. The pitch sprinklers are turned up, with the fluorescent jackets of the home stewards dotted around the empty stands.

Team news should be arriving in about 10 minutes...

Who are you backing to win at Wembley later? Chelsea? Or Spurs?

Former League Cup winner Danny Mills, who helped Middlesbrough win the trophy in 2004, believes that Chelsea are the "favourites to win".

The ex-England right-back adds that Blues boss Jose Mourinho will be "desperate" to lift the trophy after his team lost to Spurs 5-3 on New Year's Day.

Watch BBC Sport's Dan Walker and Mills discuss how the final could pan out.

Match of the Day

And our Match of the Day pundits wholeheartedly agree with Big Sam...

Image source, AP

Former England skipper Alan Shearer on Mile Jedinak's elbow on Diafra Sakho: "He puts his elbow up to go into his face. That could have been a serious, serious injury. I'm sure the FA will look at that. And rightly so."

Former Chelsea manager Ruud Gullit: "You could see he was on a mission, already he missed someone then he gives him a terrible, terrible elbow."

The Sun's 'Goals' pull-out leads on claims from West Ham boss Sam Allardyce that Crystal Palace skipper Mile Jedinak was "lucky" not to be punished for an alleged elbow on Hammers striker Diafra Sakho.

Get Inspired
With BBC Sport

Each week we team up with Get Inspired, the BBC initiative which aims to increase participation in sport, to hear tales about your own sporting experiences.

Today we want to know about the occasions you have missed out on a big game. The quirkier the better.

JB: Once missed the first half of a junior quarter-final because my dad got lost and couldn't find the pitch!

Emma Sanders: I chose to miss an England rounders trial to play my hockey cup final. Got hit in the face with the ball in the first two minutes.

Get in touch using #getinspired, external on Twitter or drop us a line on the BBC Sport Facebook, external or Google+ page., external

You can also text us on 81111 in the UK only - but please don't forget to add your name and location.

No punches being pulled by the Sunday Times headline writers. They describe the Old Trafford incident as a 'red card fiasco'.

Image source, AP

Sunderland defender Wes Brown's sending-off against Manchester United appeared to be a case of mistaken identity - but it wasn't according to the professional referees' body.

Roger East appeared to dismiss Brown, 35, in error during Saturday's 2-0 Premier League defeat at Old Trafford.

Television pictures suggested John O'Shea had committed a professional foul on United striker Radamel Falcao.

But the Professional Game Match Officials Limited said East thought Brown had fouled Falcao.

Sunderland keeper Costel Pantilimon's expression tells you everything you need to know...

Before we turn our attentions to Liverpool v Manchester City about 11:00 GMT, let's have a glance at the back pages of Sunday's newspapers. One story dominates the headlines....

Get Inspired
With BBC Sport

So... many years ago I used to play for my local working men's club back in Doncaster and every year there was a jolly to Newcastle racecourse (followed by a 'few' beers throughout the day, of course).

There was one stipulation. You had to turn up for our Sunday League match on the following morning. No excuses.

However...myself and my best mate missed the bus back. Which meant we had to crash on a hotel floor. But, being skint students, we couldn't afford the train back to Doncaster on Sunday morning - instead deciding to stand on the side of a freezing A1 motorway to thumb a lift back.

After getting plenty of beeps and gestures from drivers whizzing past, a nice, middle-aged, middle-class chap called Charles stopped to help. Two hours later he dropped the pair of us, still in our race suits, back in Doncaster.

We raced to the council-run pitch, threw on some shinpads and boots and managed to come on for the last 10 minutes. To a hero's welcome from our team-mates.

OK, technically we did make the game - but we missed the majority of it. So we want to know the occasions you have missed a match. Tweet using #getinspired, external or text us on 81111.

Get Inspired
With BBC Sport

Each week we team up with Get Inspired, the BBC initiative which aims to increase participation in sport, to hear tales about your own sporting experiences.

So this week, in light of Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic missing the League Cup final after losing the plot with Burnley's Ashley Barnes, we want to know about the occasions you have missed out on a big game. The quirkier the better.

I'll start you off with a (true) story of my own....

Of course, the League Cup final is the main course on today's mouth-watering feast of football. But there are a few tasty nibbles to satisfy your hunger pangs before we tuck into a huge slice of the Wembley pie. Here's the menu...

Premier League: Liverpool v Manchester City (12:00 GMT)

Premier League: Arsenal v Everton (14:05 GMT)

Championship: Norwich City v Ipswich Town (14:05 GMT)

League Cup final: Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur (16:00 GMT)

These two fellas are ready. Their players are ready. Their fans are ready. The Wembley groundsman is ready. The trophy engraver is ready. The pyrotechnics organiser is ready. Everyone's ready.

We are about eight hours away from finding out who will win the first trophy of the English football season. Chelsea? Or Tottenham?

The only thing we know for certain is that the League Cup trophy will be staying in London...