Arne Slot endured another woeful day to end a gutting week for Liverpool as Newcastle ended a 70-year wait for a domestic cup by holding off the Reds to win the Carabao Cup final
18:30, 16 Mar 2025Updated 18:41, 16 Mar 2025
Arne Slot
Arne Slot endured a miserable afternoon at Wembley(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Arne Slot's Liverpool were beaten by Newcastle United as they lost the Carabao Cup final 2-1.
Liverpool headed to Wembley looking to retain the Carabao Cup following their 1-0 extra-time victory over Chelsea last season. In a painful week that saw the Reds knocked out of the Champions League by PSG, Slot had the chance to set the record straight and pick up his first silverware at the helm.
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But Liverpool started poorly; they were lethargic and toothless in the first-half, only mustering up one shot in the entirety of the opening 45 minutes. Looking to end a 70-year domestic trophy wait, Newcastle were vastly the better team and deservedly led at half-time.
The Reds left all 6ft 7in of Dan Burn unmarked from a corner as he headed the Geordies in front on the stroke of half-time.
And whatever Slot said at the break fell on deaf ears, as Liverpool were rolled over again by Newcastle, who eventually doubled their advantage via Alexander Isak just minutes after he saw a goal disallowed.
Slot made desperate changes off the bench, but they didn’t work. Liverpool put their hope in just launching as many forwards onto the pitch in the hope chaos would prevail. Eventually, it did stick as Federico Chiesa gave Liverpool hope in added time but it was too little too late.
Here, the Daily Star Sport looks at what Slot got wrong as Liverpool were beaten on the pitch and in the respective dugouts.
Bullied in the first-half
It was obvious to see who the team without a domestic cup in 70 years were from the first minute. Newcastle were first and second to everything, sharper, more tactically astute, and overall better than Liverpool.
It looked as though Liverpool might survive getting into half-time level, but Burn’s header was the bare minimum of what the Magpies deserved. From a group of players who have had such a reputation of going above and beyond to get the mental edges and rarely looking outworked and fought, that’s exactly what they were today.
Dan Burn goal vs Liverpool
Dan Burn's goal summed up the first-half(Image: Getty Images)
And this has happened on too many occasions under Slot. Despite their soon-to-be confirmed Premier League triumph, Liverpool have been a second best side far too often on the big occasions.
Liverpool managed just one shot in the entirety of the first-half, while Newcastle had nine, with three on target. At full-time Liverpool had just seven shots compared to Newcastle’s 17.
Set pieces
Liverpool set up for corners in their zonal system with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate positioning themselves in the six-yard box, Newcastle just simply aimed towards the far post where 6ft 7in Burn was lurking and winning headers.
The Reds got away with failing to pick up the big man early on in the first-half when Bruno Guimaraes was unable to direct his header past Caoimhin Kelleher after Burn had headed goalwards, and they were finally made to pay at the end of the first half.
Alexander Isak goal vs Liverpool
Alexander Isak doubled Newcastle's lead(Image: James Marsh/REX/Shutterstock)
Whatever decision it was to leave Burn unmarked was simply brainless. The latest England call-up had a free header to power the Magpies into the lead.
Liverpool survived an offside call against Bruno Guimaraes for interfering with Kelleher’s line of sight at another corner just five minutes into the second-half, which saw Isak denied an earlier goal.
Selection and substitutions
Darwin Nunez is a comical figure for opposition fans, his wastefulness in front of goal and unorthodox, to say the least, style leaves him far from the most appreciated player.
But Diogo Jota again added nothing as the focal point again and virtually cleared Liverpool’s best chance away towards the corner flag from inside the six-yard box. Slot called upon the big Uruguayan after Newcastle’s second and he had just two touches of the ball in his first 15 minutes on the pitch.
Alexander Isak
Isak was the match winner(Image: Getty Images)
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Following Newcastle’s second, Konate was also withdrawn in a major re-shift at the back that saw Ryan Gravenberch drop in at centre-back. Then came the later changes of launching Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott in the final third in place of Alexis Mac Allister, Gravenberch and Luis Diaz.
Slot’s decisions were desperate. Liverpool needed something after offering nothing and were lucky not to fall further behind having resorting to despairingly throwing as many attackers on the pitch. Chiesa's goal finally gave them hope, but it was too late.
Right-back crisis
In the absence of the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold and Conor Bradley, Slot had little alternative to starting Jarell Quansah in a makeshift right-back role.
The Reds will be thankful that Anthony Gordon was suspended, but Harvey Barnes is still a tricky customer to go one-on-one against, and he handled the occasion aptly.
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His early heavy tackle on Tino Livramento went unpunished but allowed the 22-year-old to make a mark for the rest of the game. But Liverpool majorly lost out on attacking output down the right, especially when they were left chasing the game.