Excitement and nerves are building ahead of the Carabao Cup final as Newcastle United finally return to Wembley to take on Liverpool.
Newcastle United will be desperate to end the club’s 70-year wait for a trophy when they compete in the Carabao Cup final this coming Sunday.
Standing in their way is Liverpool, the imperious Premier League leaders who comfortably defeated Eddie Howe’s side just a fortnight ago.
The Reds were the heavy favourites even before Newcastle suffered several big blows, as Anthony Gordon, Lewis Hall and Sven Botman will all miss the trip to Wembley.
It leaves Newcastle’s strongest starting XI severely depleted, while Liverpool are only missing second-choice defenders Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez.
Bruno Guimaraes still believes Newcastle can win but even he admits it will be very difficult against the current ‘best team in the world.’
Arne Slot is blessed with several fantastic forwards who can deal the Magpies real damage, including one they even tried to sign themselves five years ago. Cody Gakpo.
Photo by EYE4images/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by EYE4images/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Newcastle United were linked with Cody Gakpo transfer in 2020
Newcastle always try to keep an eye out for the hottest talent in the game and it’s how they managed to snag the likes of Guimaraes, Hall and Alexander Isak.
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One such starlet the club seemingly spotted when he was first making a name for himself was Gakpo.
According to a report from Foot Mercato in January 2020, Newcastle had their ‘sights’ on the then 20-year-old who was making waves at PSV Eindhoven.
It was claimed Newcastle were challenging Lyon for Gakpo’s signature and had ‘significant financial resources’ to pay PSV’s £8.5m asking price.
Instead, Gakpo remained in the Netherlands to hone his game before finally moving to the Premier League when he signed for Liverpool in January 2023 for £45m.
Now he’s one of Liverpool’s best forwards ahead of Wembley.
Liverpool get major Cody Gakpo boost ahead of Carabao Cup final
Gakpo is in fantastic form this season but has actually been struggling of late with minor injuries.
He recently missed a few games with a knock before being ruled out of the weekend’s win over Southampton due to muscular problems.
However, Arne Slot has delivered a positive update on his condition this week by confirming he will be available to play against Paris Saint-Germain in their massive Champions League last 16 second leg on Tuesday.
Slot said ahead of the game: “Yes, he will be in the squad.”
Gakpo is enjoying a fine season so far with 16 goals and five assists to his name, including five strikes in just five Carabao Cup appearances.
Let’s hope Newcastle not signing him all those years ago doesn’t come back to haunt them.