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Eddie Howe will be forced to make some personnel changes to his Newcastle United side for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.
Changes from their previous Carabao Cup outing at least. Since Newcastle’s 2-0 semi-final second leg win over Arsenal over five weeks ago, they have lost Lewis Hall and Sven Botman to injury and Anthony Gordon to suspension.
All three players, along with the long-term injured Jamaal Lascelles will miss the final at Wembley Stadium this weekend.
Speaking ahead of the Liverpool game, Howe confirmed Hall and Botman had undergone surgery with no further injury issues to report.
Newcastle United injury update from Eddie Howe
“Yes, well of course the long-term now, so Lewis Hall is recovering after his operation, Sven recovering after his operation, Jamaal still making progress to come back, Anthony is suspended - apart from that we hope to have a full squad.
Howe added: “We do have adaptability, but also we have a clear method of how we want to play, clear principles we don't deviate from, although we can tweak things. So, I think the clear representation of us, both in and out of possession, will be absolutely vital for us this weekend.”
Newcastle are likely to travel to Wembley with a squad very similar to the one that travelled to London for the 1-0 win at West Ham United on Monday night. The one change could see 17-year-old Sean Neave drop off the bench in place of Under-21s forward Ben Parkinson.
A return to 3-4-3 for Newcastle United?
Newcastle enjoyed plenty of success against Arsenal playing an unfamiliar three-centre-back formation at St James’ Park. Fabian Schar, Dan Burn and Botman helped The Magpies keep a clean sheet and secure a place at Wembley against Liverpool.
But with Botman now injured, Howe was asked whether the formation that worked so well against The Gunners remains an option available to him this weekend.
“It's still a potential option, yes,” Howe told The Gazette. “We are running out of defenders to a degree, which makes it a bit more difficult, of course.
“But I wouldn't rule anything out, that's why I said earlier, we do have a way of playing, but we're very free in terms of tactical set-up. So we can, of course, change system, but the principles of our play would remain untouched.”
In Botman’s absence, Schar and Burn are likely to start at centre-back while Emil Krafth remains an option as a potential third centre-back alternative. Howe also has a decision to make in goal regarding Nick Pope and Martin Dubravka.
Newcastle United team selection dilemmas v Liverpool
Pope has started Newcastle’s last three Premier League matches while Dubravka has four of the side’s six Carabao Cup matches this season.
“Genuinely, whenever I look at a team selection for any game there's always decisions to make,” Howe added. “That'll be no different for this game because you're always looking at the opposition in your own strengths and trying to figure out what players need to go up against certain players so that's what we've done.
“We don't have a huge pool of players to select from that, that's pretty obvious, we have a very tight squad and in some senses that can help you in different moments and that can also be a negative but I think we're in a good place after the win on Monday night, that was the key thing and all the players are feeling a lot more confident.”
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