Arne Slot is left to lament a lack of firepower as Liverpool lose the Carabao Cup final to Newcastle United 2-1 at Wembley
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Darwin Nunez of Liverpool looks dejected after defeat in the Carabao Cup Final between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium on March 16, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Arne Slot was left to lament a lack of firepower as Liverpool lost the Carabao Cup final to Newcastle United 2-1 at Wembley. And the Reds boss admits it is frustrating that an international break won't allow for his team to immediately put right a difficult week that also saw them exit the Champions League.
For the second game in succession Slot started with Diogo Jota as the lone striker with Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah either side but the Portugal international struggled to trouble the Newcastle backline before his replacement, Darwin Nunez, toiled similarly against the Magpies' defence.
It was substitute Federico Chiesa who reduced the arrears in stoppage time after goals from Dan Burn and Alexander Isak, but it was a deserved defeat for the 10-time winners as Newcastle secured their first domestic trophy for 70 years.
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“You try to make some changes and you go to a No.9 who is stronger in the air than Diogo is," Slot said. "You hope Darwin can make it a bit more difficult for defenders to win all the long balls that in the first half I think Dan Burn won every duel.
“You try to influence it like this and you show them at half-time that in the few moments that are left when the ball is on the ground that we have a bit more time than we think and we could make better decisions and I saw that immediately after half-time. We played through them a bit more in the second half, not a lot but a bit."
On a difficult few days that also saw PSG beat his team on penalties in the Champions League, Slot added: “It’s not the first time in our history we’ve lost two games in a row, that’s part of playing football. Even Liverpool can lose football games, that’s what can happen.
“I would have loved to play next week but the situation now is they go with their national teams where they have to play two more games again.
“Then it’s one-and-a-half weeks before we play Everton, a team we already faced, we know how difficult that one was. Let’s see."