Preview: CARABAO CUP FINAL Liverpool vs. Newcastle United
Liverpool defends their League Cup title against Newcastle United at Wembley.
LIVERPOOL VS. NEWCASTLE UNITED
| Sunday, March 16th |
Carabao Cup Final | Wembley Stadium
4:30PM GMT/12:30PM EST
Another trip to Wembley calls on Sunday when Arne Slot will get his first shot at leading his team to a trophy. With Liverpool out of the Champions League and FA Cup, Liverpool will be determined to defend their League Cup title against Newcastle United. Of course, bringing home that 20th league trophy is this season’s biggest concern, an earlier victory will also help push the team through their last handful of league games.
The Reds’ heartbreaking penalty shoot-out loss against PSG in midweek will need to be pushed aside to focus on redemption against the Magpies.
The big concern for Slot on Sunday will be right-back. Trent Alexander-Arnold was injured against PSG, and they’re also without Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley. This means that there are no senior right-backs available to Slot for tomorrow. So who will jump in? Or will Slot change his winning formation to accommodate this hole? Most likely it will be the young but talented Jarell Quansah who will need to take over the unfamiliar position. Newcastle will no doubt look to exploit that perceived weakness in an otherwise formidable Liverpool side.
League Cup hero Caoimhín Kelleher should be in goal after getting the team through the whole competition so far.
Newcastle, on the other hand, keep making it to domestic cup finals only to get their hearts broken. They are coming up on 70 years without a trophy, and manager Eddie Howe is hoping to etch his name into the club’s history books by breaking that ignominious streak.
It was mere weeks ago that Newcastle lost 2-0 to Liverpool at Anfield. Since then, they faced their own cup disappointment when they lost to Brighton 2-1 in extra time in the fifth round of the FA Cup. They’re only a few points off of a Champions League spot, but Sunday’s match is now their only chance for a trophy this season.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-2-3-1)
Kelleher; Quansah, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz; Gakpo
In addition to the previously mentioned defensive trio of Alexander-Arnold, Bradley, and Gomez, Liverpool will also be without Tyler Morton. Hold your butts it Ibrahima Konaté is unavailable, because then Slot might be forced into the truly makeshift back four of Quansah, Wataru Endō, Virgil van Dijk, and Andy Robertson. With van Dijk leading, it’s always hard to count them out, but that’s still a nervy, untesting combination.
For Newcastle United, Howe will be without their own full-back in Lewis Hall, as well as Sven Botman, and Jamaal Lascelles. Anthony Gordon received a red card in their wild FA Cup match, so he’ll miss out as well.
What the Managers Had to Say
Arne Slot: “[W]e’re really looking forward to it, to playing a final again, because you cannot take a final for granted, especially not in this country with so many good teams involved in every cup competition.”
Eddie Howe: “We want to break that wait for a trophy. It’s not a negative. We’re trying to look at it the other way round, it’s the chance to make history and be remembered positively.”
The Officials
Referee: John Brooks Assistant Referees: Eddie Smart and Nick Greenhalgh Fourth Official: Darren England Reserve Assistant Referee: Steve Meredith VAR: Stuart Atwell AVAR: Sian Massey-Ellis
If you haven’t done so already, take a moment to sign up for an SB Nation account and join the community at The Liverpool Offside, where we’ll bring you and your fellow Reds fans from around the world full coverage of every Liverpool match from the 2024-25 season in the Premier League, Europa League, and domestic cups along with breaking news, insight and opinion, tactical discussion, and post-match reaction
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
Post a Comment