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Liverpool have one huge game to play before Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium (4:30pm kick-off).
Newcastle will be without some key players for the match having lost Lewis Hall and Sven Botman to injury while Anthony Gordon will miss the game due to suspension. This is despite Gordon’s red card coming in the FA Cup defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion earlier this month.
The winger served the first game of his three-match ban during Newcastle’s 1-0 win at West Ham United on Monday night and will serve the second against Liverpool on Sunday before missing the home match against Brentford following the international break. FA rules state that while yellow card suspensions do not carry over between competitions, red card suspensions do.
Even though Newcastle were knocked out of the FA Cup, they face the added punishment of being without a key player like Gordon for the next three games.
The rules are the source of some contention as they also allow players to serve suspensions picked up in the Premier League during cup matches. Earlier this season, Fabian Schar was handed a three-match ban for Newcastle following his red card against Southampton but only ended up missing two Premier League matches as he also sat out the Carabao Cup second-round win at Nottingham Forest.
UEFA rules the exception when it comes to red card suspensions
While red card suspension rules apply across all competitions domestically, that consistency does not carry over into European competitions.
A red card in a UEFA competition such as the Champions League results in a one-match ban in the club’s next UEFA competition game. Should any Liverpool player get sent off in their Champions League second-leg match against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday evening (8pm kick-off), they would miss Liverpool’s next Champions League match only rather than any domestic matches.
Liverpool take a narrow 1-0 lead into the last-16 second leg at Anfield.
Liverpool ‘lucky’ to avoid Carabao Cup ban
While Newcastle have Gordon suspended for Sunday’s final, Liverpool have no suspensions for the match.
But striker Darwin Nunez was deemed ‘lucky’ to avoid a straighr red card for kicking out at Southampton defender Kyle Walker-Peters during Liverpool’s win last time out in the Premier League. Nunez escaped with a yellow card though many felt he should have seen red.
BBC 5 Live pundit Chris Sutton said: “It was such a reckless, daft challenge. Liverpool [are] lucky to have 11 on the pitch.”
Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock described the challenge as ‘cowardly’ from Nunez during Sky Sports’ Ref Watch segment.
Liverpool ‘missing’ players for Carabao Cup final
While Newcastle have four players already confirmed to be out for the Carabao Cup final, Liverpool are expected to have two defensive absentees for the match.
Barring any fresh injury blows ahead of the weekend, Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez are set to be Liverpool’s only two unavailable players for the trip to Wembley.
Liverpool head into the game looking to retain the Carabao Cup after beating Chelsea 1-0 last season. Newcastle have never won the competition but last made the final in 2023, losing 2-0 to Manchester United.
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