The Carabao Cup final is just around the corner but things are not looking too promising for Newcastle United ahead of their Wembley date with Liverpool
Since Newcastle United made it to the Carabao Cup final with a fantastic semi-final performance against Arsenal, their form has dropped off significantly.
In an ominous preview of the final, Liverpool cruised to victory over Newcastle when they met in the Premier League in February.
Things got even worse for Eddie Howe in Sunday’s FA Cup defeat to Brighton as he saw his squad potentially suffer several casualties ahead of the final.
Anthony Gordon was sent off for a petulant shove which will see him miss Wembley through suspension while Alexander Isak and Kieran Trippier both limped off with injuries.
There’s hope their issues won’t be serious but fears are much bigger around Lewis Hall, who had to see a specialist about an ankle problem and the manager could not put a time scale on his return.
Newcastle’s preparations as they aim to win a first trophy in 70 years has been far from ideal and Howe’s record against Liverpool does not make for optimistic reading, either.
Eddie Howe managerial record vs Liverpool
Howe has taken on Liverpool 21 times in his career but has lost 18 of those matches and only defeated them on a single occasion.
That sole win came over eight years ago in December 2016 when he was in charge of Bournemouth.
That day the Cherries fought back from 2-0 and then 3-1 down to record a historic 4-3 victory thanks to Nathan Ake’s last-minute winner.
Newcastle striker Callum Wilson was also on the score sheet that day but he struggled when coming up against Liverpool in the absence of Isak recently.
Bournemouth came from behind again in their next meeting to draw 2-2 but Howe would go on to lose his next 12 games against the Reds.
The losing streak only came to an end in December when Newcastle picked up a more-than-deserved 3-3 draw at St. James’ Park through Fabian Schar’s late equaliser.
Isak was incredible that day and dominated Virgil van Dijk, showing exactly how much they need him for the final.
Howe’s record against Liverpool does not give much cause for hope ahead of Wembley and he will have to wrestle history to pull off the upset.
| Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals | Points | PPG |
| 21 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 17:52 | 5 | 0.24 |
Newcastle and Liverpool fixtures before Carabao Cup final
Given the loss to Brighton could end up being disastrous with the number of players they may now be without in the Carabao Cup final, it’s a good job Newcastle only have one more fixture to go beforehand.
The Magpies will head to West Ham United in Premier League action on Monday, March 10, in a game they will be desperate to avoid any further injuries in.
Liverpool have a much busier schedule than Newcastle, which may worry Alexis Mac Allister who has already admitted the side are feeling tired.
Though their Premier League game next Sunday is against bottom of the table Southampton, that will come sandwiched between both legs of their massive Champions League tie with PSG.
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