The Carabao Cup final is looming on the horizon and here is how Newcastle United and Liverpool’s fixtures compare ahead of the date at Wembley.
March 16 will be the biggest day of Newcastle United’s season as they aim to finally win their first trophy for 70 years.
There couldn’t be a tougher opponent standing in their way of history in the Carabao Cup final in the form of runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool.
To make Newcastle’s odds shorter still, Eddie Howe’s side have gone off the boil since they secured their trip to Wembley with a fantastic semi-final win over Arsenal.
Results have dipped but, more worryingly, performances have plummeted and injuries have mounted as a gruelling campaign catches up.
Anthony Gordon is already ruled out of the final after his foolish red card against Brighton while Alexander Isak, Lewis Hall and Kieran Trippier are all injury concerns.
If there is one thing going in the Magpies’ favour it’s that they have a much more comfortable week-and-a-half until the final.
Here is how the two teams’ fixtures compare ahead of Wembley.
Newcastle and Liverpool fixtures ahead of Carabao Cup final
Sunday’s FA Cup defeat to Brighton was disastrous for Newcastle as it not only knocked them out of another cup but saw up to three players potentially drop out of the final.
After Gordon was sent off, Trippier and Isak both left the field with muscle strains, while Hall didn’t even make it to the match due to an ankle injury suffered against Liverpool.
While there is good news with Joelinton and Harvey Barnes returning to action and Sven Botman nearing a comeback, the number of injuries in quick succession is concerning.
The rigours of the campaign and a squad lacking in depth are taking their toll on Newcastle but, thankfully, they have just one more game before the Carabao Cup final.
The Toon have another trip to London when they head down south to face West Ham in the Premier League this coming Monday.
In contrast, Liverpool still have three games to play in a six-day period before heading to Wembley.
Though their home match in the league to relegation fodder Southampton shouldn’t be too taxing, they have both legs of their massive Champions League last 16 tie with Paris Saint-Germain either side of it.
Such a tough workload could play in Newcastle’s favour.
Newcastle fixture ahead of Carabao Cup final
- West Ham United (A) – Premier League – Monday, March 10
Liverpool fixtures ahead of Carabao Cup final
- PSG (A) – Champions League – Wednesday, March 5
- Southampton (H) – Premier League – Saturday, March 8
- PSG (H) – Champions League – Tuesday, March 11
Alexis Mac Allister concern could get even worse for Liverpool
Though every team wants to win as much as possible and Arne Slot will want to ensure he picks up as much silverware as he can in his first campaign, the Champions League clearly means more to Liverpool than the Carabao Cup.
There will obviously be no resting players just ahead of the final in the Champions League. A rejuvenated PSG are no longer frail pushovers, either, as they have a young, talented side more than capable of hurting the Reds.
Should Liverpool be eliminated from the Champions League, then it will be a massive blow to their confidence just days ahead of the final.
That’s without even considering the physical impact of so many games in a short timeframe. Alexis Mac Allister has already admitted Liverpool are feeling ‘tired’ and that’s only going to get worse.
Speaking after defeating Newcastle, the Argentine said when asked how nice it was to have a rare week of: “We need it. Definitely.
“We are a little bit tired. This week it will be nice to have some days off and to get some rest.”
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