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‘It’s only the Carabao Cup’ they’ll say — but for Newcastle United, it could change everything.
A lifetime of heartbreak and frustration — wiped away, replaced by a feeling almost impossible for most Newcastle fans to comprehend.
Only those lucky enough to witness and remember the 1955 FA Cup win or the 1969 Fairs Cup triumph truly know how it feels. Just thinking about how it might feel is enough to make a grown Geordie emotional.
70 years without a domestic trophy have left deep scars of past failures. We’ve been here before, of course. Just two years ago, Newcastle went down to Wembley to face Manchester United in the Carabao Cup final.
It was a missed opportunity against a distinctly average Manchester United side. Perhaps it came too soon for a club fighting relegation just a year earlier.
Newcastle have progressed as a squad since then. They’re getting used to competing at the top end of the Premier League and reaching the latter stages of cup competitions — Sunday’s final is not the alien feeling it was last time.
And they head into it with one of the best strikers in world football, Alexander Isak. The Swede was benched for the previous Wembley visit but heads into Sunday’s match in fine form having scored 21 goals in his last 24 starts for the club.
Sandro Tonali has also elevated The Magpies’ midfield this season alongside Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton. Defensive concerns persist with injuries to Lewis Hall and Sven Botman, while uncertainty looms over the goalkeeper position with Nick Pope and Martin Dubravka.
The suspended Anthony Gordon will also be a big miss. But no matter how Newcastle line up, they will have to be at their very best to beat a Liverpool side who have been almost untouchable this season - unless you’re Plymouth or Paris Saint-Germain.
When Newcastle won the Fairs Cup in 1969, it was the club’s 11th ‘major’ trophy while Liverpool had only eight. During Newcastle’s 56-year trophy drought, Liverpool have proceeded to win 43 major honours including six European Cups and a record 10 League Cups.
Winning is in Liverpool’s DNA. They aim to retain the Carabao Cup and enter the final as firm favourites. But Arne Slot’s side will be wounded by a crushing Champions League exit to PSG on penalties, paired with a couple of key injury concerns.
A week ago it felt as though The Magpies were cursed when losing Hall and Botman to surgery as well as Gordon to suspension. This week has looked more favourable with Newcastle beating West Ham United, keeping a clean sheet and picking up no fresh injuries while Liverpool look set to be without Trent Alexander-Arnold for the final after he hobbled off against PSG.
Every detail in the past month has been magnified with the cup final in mind. The almost six-week gap between reaching the final and playing it has no doubt been a distraction for Newcastle - at least now it is in full focus.
While Newcastle are better and more experienced than they were on their previous Wembley visit, so are their opponents.
Logic and history would suggest Liverpool will be able to brush Newcastle aside as they have done so many times in the Premier League in recent seasons - particularly at Anfield.
But the same logic and history also suggested Arsenal would be able to beat a Guimaraes-less Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium back in January. It didn’t turn out that way.
And in that sense, Newcastle’s Carabao Cup run has felt different this time around.
Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup attitude adjustment
Newcastle’s last Carabao Cup final run was one of momentum and celebration culminating in a ‘big day out’ feeling at Wembley. Quarter-final wins against Leicester City and a semi-final victory over Southampton - two sides who went on to be relegated from the Premier League that season - were met with intense fanfare and dressing-room celebrations.
Geordie Dan Burn was at the heart of it with his dancing after the Leicester win and Paul Gascoigne-inspired exclamation of ‘I’m gannin to get me suit measured’ after reaching the final. That was a club not used to competing, riding the wave of reaching a first cup final in almost 25 years.
This time around things have been more measured and muted, it’s a club getting more and more used to competing with the elite. The quarter-final win against Brentford was simply a box-ticking exercise, job done.
Newcastle even took beating Arsenal in their stride, winning 4-0 on aggregate with many booking trains and hotels after the first leg. Last time reaching Wembley was an achievement for Newcastle and it felt like a day out as a result.
This time around, the only feeling of achievement will come when Bruno Guimaraes is lifting that Carabao Cup around 7pm on Sunday evening.
In their run to the Carabao Cup final, Newcastle have knocked out three of the Premier League’s top four in Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Arsenal - now they’re looking to complete a clean sweep this weekend.
And that would change everything.
Newcastle United would change forever with a cup win
There is a chance Newcastle fans will experience a genuine life-altering moment on Sunday. It may be a small chance but it’s that belief and influence that makes football so special.
It’s the hope that kills you, but that same hope keeps us all black and white.
Outsiders can play down the merit and prestige of the Carabao Cup. These same people may well hype up the Europa League and Conference League as major trophies, despite an obvious cap on quality.
That doesn’t exist in the Carabao Cup - to win it Newcastle will need to beat the best.
Champions League qualification, while important to Newcastle, would pale in comparison to winning the cup. Anyone saying otherwise has been indoctrinated by the PSR narrative.
Football is about moments and the ultimate goal for any club is to win trophies, that’s how success is measured. As nice as it would be, no one will remember the side finishing fifth and qualifying for the Champions League on a UEFA technicality.
Newcastle have earned a seat at the table of success by reaching another cup final. Their order? One Carabao Cup, please.
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Related topics:WembleyArsenalFA CupLiverpool
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