On the eve of the first major final of the season, Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard told The Sun his previous League Cup final heartache left him "suicidal".

The Sun focuses on the England midfielder's comments in the build-up to Sunday's big match at Wembley that reveal his mental state the last time he contested a League Cup final - back in 2005.

Then, Liverpool were beaten 3-2 by Chelsea after extra-time at the Millennium Stadium, Gerrard scoring a late own-goal to give the Blues a late lifeline.

To make matters worse, Gerrard was linked with a move to Stamford Bridge at the time, leaving him in a dark place at the end of the match, although one hopes his use of the word 'suicidal' was an exaggeration.

He said: "I was linked with Chelsea for a while before that final. So to score an own-goal and lose was a nightmare for me.

"There were Liverpool fans who probably thought I meant the own-goal at the time.

"I felt suicidal. It was one of the worst days I have had, especially coming against Chelsea."

Liverpool's Carling Cup final against Cardiff City is not the only big match this weekend though, with the North London derby earning plenty of column inches as well.

And with Arsenal's rivalry with Tottenham set to be renewed, Arsene Wenger has revealed he passed up the chance to sign Spurs ace Gareth Bale four years ago - instead opting to buy Theo Walcott.

The pair used to be room-mates at Southampton and despite having been shown around Arsenal's training ground, Bale - an Arsenal fan - was overlooked in favour of the pricier Walcott.

Wenger's reason? "We had full-backs at the time. We had (Gael) Clichy, we had (Ashley) Cole," he says in the Daily Mail.

Speaking of Cole, the now Chelsea left-back could land a big-money move to Barcelona in the summer, according to the Daily Star.

The paper states: "The England international has fallen out with Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas. And he will seek a quick exit in the summer - if Roman Abramovich decides to keep faith in the Portuguese coach."

Back to the Emirates, and the Daily Mirror reveals another player Wenger overlooked in the transfer market - Louis Saha.

The France striker moved on a free from Everton to Tottenham on transfer deadline day and has already netted twice for his new club.

It could easily have been a different story, as the paper claims the Gunners were offered Saha first but Wenger was not enamoured by the cut-price deal.

Meanwhile, a man Wenger is keen on, Eden Hazard, has been urged to join Arsenal by Bacary Sagna.

The Lille ace has been linked with Tottenham in recent weeks but the Daily Mirror carries quotes from Sagna warning the Belgian "it would be an error" to join their North London rivals.

Sagna goes on to indicate the best place for the exciting talent to develop his skills would be... you've guessed it, the Emirates Stadium.

In other transfer tittle-tattle, League One side MK Dons want David Bentley on loan from Tottenham, while Newcastle are hoping to sign Reims midfielder Romain Amalfitano in the summer. (Daily Mail)

And finally, West Brom may return for Sunderland midfielder Craig Gardner in the summer, according to a report in the Daily Mirror.

Eurosport