Mohamed Salah will be key for Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday and Newcastle United will be without their best chance of stopping him
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Mohamed Salah is Liverpool's top scorer this season with 32 goals across all competitions
Mohamed Salah is Liverpool's top scorer this season with 32 goals across all competitions
(Image: Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)
Mohamed Salah will hope to make a significant impact for Liverpool on Sunday when they face Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
The Reds are set to contest their second consecutive final in the competition after an injury-hit team beat Chelsea 1-0 in extra time to win Jurgen Klopp's final trophy as Liverpool boss last year. Salah, who was among the players sidelined for this fixture 12 months ago, will be determined to continue his goalscoring exploits on Sunday.
Arne Slot's side have faced Newcastle both home and away in the Premier League this season. They drew the away fixture at St James' Park, but comfortably won the home clash 2-0 as Salah provided an assist for Alexis Mac Allister's goal in the second half.
In both of those games, Newcastle left back Lewis Hall did a solid job defending against Salah, an achievement few have managed this season. However, the 20-year-old will miss Sunday's final having been ruled out for the rest of the campaign after undergoing foot surgery earlier this momth.
Eddie Howe has called upon Tino Livramento to fill in at left back in their last two games against Brighton and West Ham. Although, the 22-year-old's favoured position is at right back, where he has played his remaining 28 games this season.
Salah has proven to be difficult to stop this term, so Livramento will no doubt be studying Paris Saint-Germain left back Nuno Mendes' outstanding display against the Egyptian over the two legs in the Champions League. While he is certainly Howe's strongest option in Hall's absence, it is fair to say he doesn't provide the same blend of defensive stability and attacking threat as his teammate.
That being said, Liverpool will be without a key player of their own as Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out due to the injury he picked up midweek against PSG. Jarell Quansah will be forced to play out of position given Conor Bradley is also still sidelined with a hamstring problem.