Arne Slot’s side fell behind on the stroke of half time as Dan Burn eluded Alexis Mac Allister to head home from Kieran Trippier’s left-sided corner.
The Magpies doubled their lead early in the second half of Sunday’s final when Alexander Isak was able to drill into Caoimhin Kelleher’s far corner.
Substitute Federico Chiesa attempted to stir the Reds into a belated fightback deep in added time but his low strike proved to be a consolatory effort.
**Here were the key talking points from Wembley:**
Reds found wanting again
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A defining week began and ended in chastening fashion for Liverpool.
Their Champions League adventure was curtailed by a stellar Paris Saint-Germain and that theme continued at Wembley against Newcastle United.
Virgil van Dijk’s message in the pre-match huddle ended with the words, give or take some industrial language, ‘we worked so hard to be here, let’s do this!’
All that effort, however, proved to be in vain as the Carabao Cup holders were second best in every sense against a previously success-starved Magpies.
While they came flying out the traps, hellbent on claiming a first domestic trophy in 70 years and 56 overall, Arne Slot’s side were worryingly languid.
Their only semblance of a fightback came in second-half smatterings, with substitute Federico Chiesa’s late consolation the sum of those efforts.
Sometimes games of such magnitude boil down to the other team simply wanted it more and twice this past week, the Reds have been found wanting.
Slot must be allowed to rebuild
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A shock cup defeat has often been a sliding doors moment in Anfield history.
Bill Shankly rebuilt his first great side after an FA Cup exit to Watford while Jurgen Klopp did similar in the wake of the 2018 Champions League final.
On the back of Liverpool’s worst showpiece appearance in recent memory, events beneath the Wembley arch handed Slot a mandate to follow their lead.
The Dutchman’s coaching acumen has taken his charges to the cusp of an unlikely Premier League title but their deficiencies are also fully laid bare.
Without Trent Alexander-Arnold available, they lacked the creative spark to unlock a robust Newcastle defence keeping Mohamed Salah on a tight leash.
Elsewhere in the attack, Diogo Jota’s slump goes on; Luis Diaz continues to blow hot and cold while Darwin Nunez is invariably more hindrance than help.
Uncertainty over Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Van Dijk’s respective futures always risked a summer of change yet it should be an urgent priority overall.
A previously season-long procession has collapsed in a matter of days, let alone weeks, and long-term solutions are now the only course of action.
Time to fully stop the rot
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Liverpool are no strangers to seeing momentum quickly slip away from them.
It was 12 months ago a potentially glorious finale to Jurgen Klopp’s farewell tour bit the dust with European and the FA Cup exits in quick succession.
Their title bid followed suit not long after that as numerous dropped points saw them to ceding considerable ground to champions-elect Manchester City.
History is unlikely to repeat itself with a 12-point cushion over Arsenal heading into the final nine games of the current campaign yet still carries that warning.
Slot’s men require 16 points from a possible 27 on offer to ensure the Premier League is making its way back to Merseyside for a second time in five years.
Their run-in is far from favourable with several testing opponents up ahead, starting with a return derby encounter against Everton in 17 days’ time.
Their neighbours will venture across Stanley Park armed with the confidence of a nine-game unbeaten run while relishing denting Liverpool’s title hopes.
Owing to March’s international break and the FA Cup quarter finals, Slot has 17 days to prevent the rot from fully setting in and undoing his hard work.