United's record as League Cup holders

The Reds lifted the trophy, Erik ten Hag's first as manager in his debut season, courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United at Wembley last February.

The omens look good for Ten Hag's team as we are unbeaten in our first outing on the back of winning the competition, posting four wins and a draw across the five fixtures in the past...

23/9/1992: Brighton (A) 1-1

Following our first triumph in the League Cup, beating Nottingham Forest 1-0 in the Rumbelows-sponsored competition in the previous campaign, Alex Ferguson's side travelled to the south coast to face Brighton & Hove Albion.

In a two-legged Coca-Cola Cup tie, we started with a draw, taking the lead through Danny Wallace, before Matthew Edwards levelled with 18 minutes left at the Goldstone Ground. Wallace had already hit a post when he smashed in a long-range screamer, following an intelligent pass by Denis Irwin. However, Edwards nodded a Chapman cross past Gary Walsh to make it 1-1. 

Of course, the game is best remembered for the United debut of a certain David Beckham, who came on as a second-half substitute.

Mark Hughes, who almost snatched a late winner in Sussex, scored the only goal of the second leg at Old Trafford, volleying home in typical fashion when Brian McClair's header bounced back off the bar.

3/10/2006: Crewe (A) 2-1

Now called the Carling Cup, our opening assignment in the wake of the 4-0 success against Wigan Athletic in 2006 was a testing night for a youthful line-up at Crewe's Gresty Road. Captain Ole Gunnar Solskjaer slammed in Ritchie Jones's cross but the hosts forced extra-time with a low drive by Luke Varney. With seconds remaining, Kieran Lee galloped forward to score the winner, on his senior debut.

Alan Smith set it up with a delightful through ball, on his return from injury, to ensure the tie did not go to penalties.

"We were a bit lucky because I think Crewe were the better team," conceded Sir Alex afterwards.

23/9/2009: Wolves (H) 1-0

A Danny Welbeck goal was enough to knock out Wolves as we started another successful road to the final on the back of the dramatic Ben Foster-inspired penalty shootout win over Tottenham at Wembley.

Newly promoted Wolves made life difficult for Ferguson's men at Old Trafford, and Fabio's sending off, for the teenager's foul on Michael Kightly, did not help our cause.

Nonetheless, a goal of "magnificent quality" in the manager's words, arrived on 66 minutes when Michael Owen set up his strike partner Welbeck, who marked his first start of the campaign with a slick finish.

22/9/2010: Scunthorpe United (A) 5-2

The Reds were certainly in no mood to relinquish our grip on the trophy when hitting Scunthorpe for five goals in an entertaining contest. Owen was among the scorers at Wembley when Aston Villa were downed in the previous season's final, and he led the way with a double in this victory at Glanford Park.

Darron Gibson quickly cancelled out Josh Wright's opener with a beautiful lob and Chris Smalling, tucking in a Ji-sung Park cross for his maiden goal for the club, turned things around before the break. Owen struck twice, the second a tap-in when Park's shot was saved by Joe Murphy, and the lively Park also got in on the act with a clinical finish. Martin Woolford pulled one back for the Championship side in injury time.

20/9/2017: Burton Albion (H) 4-1

Marcus Rashford took centre stage as we kicked on again, after winning the trophy with a 3-2 defeat of Southampton. Jose Mourinho's men were quickly ahead, when Rashford supplied a cute finish to a Jesse Lingard pass and never really looked back.

Marcus unleashed a fierce right-foot drive that flew in off a post and Lingard profited from some fine work by Anthony Martial, and a heavy deflection to his shot, to make it 3-0 in the 36th minute.

Martial grabbed the goal his performance deserved, when trading passes with Rashford and running through to beat Connor Ripley, and even a scrappy late consolation by Lloyd Dyer could not take any gloss off the win.