Eddie Howe has some huge decisions to make in the next few days before Newcastle United travel to Wembley.
In just four days, Newcastle United will have the chance to end their 70-year trophy drought when they face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final.
The Magpies will head to London with confidence having beaten West Ham 1-0 in the capital on Monday evening.
Newcastle fans may also have managed a wry smile on Tuesday evening watching Liverpool be dragged through a gruelling 120 minutes of football against PSG before they were eventually knocked out on penalties.
Eddie Howe has kept Newcastle focused on the Premier League in recent weeks but attention can now finally turn to the cup final. After leaving the London Stadium unscathed with no new injuries or suspensions, there are some big team decisions to make.
Alan Shearer names his Newcastle XI for Carabao Cup final
Club legend Alan Shearer celebrated Newcastle beating West Ham, and now he – like all fans – have their mind on Wembley.
Shearer is making the trip down with fans to watch in the stands, and he has now had his say on the team he wants to see step out onto the pitch.
Speaking on The Rest is Football, Shearer named the players he wants to see replace the suspended Anthony Gordon and the injured Lewis Hall.
“They are big losses because Lewis Hall has had a really, really good season. Anthony Gordon might not have been as playing as well as he can do but he’s still a threat.
“So they will be a big miss.
“What I think he’ll do is put [Kieran] Trippier right-back and [Tino] Livramento left-back. If it was me I’d probably play Harvey Barnes on the left-hand side. With [Jacob] Murphy and [Alexander] Isak.
“The three in midfield – if fit – will be Bruno [Guimaraes], Joelinton and [Sandro] Tonali.
“I think with Livramento’s pace, I think that’s why he’ll stick him in at left-back against Mohamed Salah.”
Alan Shearer didn’t make difficult goalkeeper call
Replacing Gordon and Hall will be at the front of Howe’s mind, and there were mixed results from Livramento and Barnes against West Ham.
Barnes was praised by Newcastle fans while Livramento struggled going forward on the left. However, that is the duo that Shearer wants to see at Wembley.
Shearer also named the rest of his front three with Alexander Isak unsurprisingly leading the line with Jacob Murphy playing on the right.
In midfield, Sandro Tonali was superb against West Ham and he is joined by Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton in a star-studded trio.
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However, one decision Shearer shied away from was which goalkeeper will start at Wembley.
Howe has hinted that Nick Pope could start despite Martin Dubravka performing superbly well this season and helping Newcastle reach the final in the first place.
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