Carabao Cup Final – Less confident, but in a strange way, more relaxed | OneFootball

Ahead of Liverpool v Newcastle in the Carabao Cup Final, we are looking to gauge the thoughts of Newcastle United fans ahead of that 4.30pm kick-off at Wembley on Sunday.

So we have asked a number of regular and irregular contributors to The Mag a range of questions.

How they think things are looking ahead of this massive match.

Whether or not they have a ticket for this Carabao Cup Final and what they expect to see happen when Newcastle United meet Liverpool.

Next up we have ‘Matt Busby said to Joe Harvey’:

Ticketed or ticketless for Sunday?

We were in Pot 2 as ST holders and had attended all Carabao Cup home games. We had been turned down in both away ballots for Forest and Arsenal, otherwise we would have scraped into Pot 1.

The lad was delegated the task once it got to Pot 2 and he logged on an hour beforehand but was disappointed when allocated number 13,656 in the queue, so we’re in the upper tier again, where the view is awful.

I’m hoping the drop from up there isn’t too onerous, so I can get down to help Bruno collect the cup.

What are your plans around the match this weekend?

Train from Newcastle Saturday am, me and the lad and staying 2 nights. Probbnly meeting some old mates from yesteryear later on Saturday for a catch up. The lad is 19 now (as opposed to being 17 when we last attended Wembley for a cup final) so I imagine the drinking will be full on. I just hope my bladder holds out.

The old favourite, would you rather win this Cup Final on Sunday or qualify for the Champions League via the Premier League (Obviously bearing in mind the PSR/money side of things as well)?

Win the bloody cup for goodness sake!

We’ve had UCL qualification and ironically it set us back in my view. PSR is a massive problem so let’s instead set about accumulating trophies. League Cup in 2025 followed by the Europa League in 2026 will be a damn good start.

Maybe a bit more difficult, would you rather win on Sunday but have no Champions League qualification these next five seasons, or lose on Sunday and have Champions League qualification guaranteed for each of the next five seasons. (Obviously bearing in mind the PSR/money side of things as well)?

I just want us to end our trophy drought. As Morrissey would say, “Please, please, please, let me get what I want, this time.”

What would be your starting eleven in the Carabao Cup Final?

Pope, Trips, Tino, BDB, Schar, Joelinton, Tonali, Bruno, Isak, Barnes, Wilson

What would have been your starting eleven if everybody had been available?

Pope, Hall, Tino, Botman, Schar, Bruno, Tonali, Joelinton, Gordon, Wilson, Isak

What chance do Newcastle United have of lifting the trophy (rating it between 0 and 10)?

I reckon it’s 50:50, so I think that’s a FIVE?

How important was the West Ham match to our chances in the final? Has defeating the Hammers gave us a better (or worse?!!) chance, compared to if NUFC had lost on Monday?

It was a much needed tonic.

Very important and I read somewhere that we’ve tended to lose the match immediately ahead of previous finals during my lifetime, so winning at the London Stadium is a good omen surely?

Similarly, what impact do you think it will have on Newcastle’s chances, what happened at Anfield on Tuesday night against PSG?

I’m torn.

Whilst extra time and the jeopardy of a penalty shootout must have taken its toll, Liverpool have got the perfect opportunity to bounce back and there could be a backlash.

Having said that, we have the better immediate form going into Sunday so let’s take that, for now at least.

Who do you think are the three most important players on Sunday and in what order and why?

Pope. If he keeps a clean sheet we win the cup.

Isak. Goals pay the rent and Isak does his share.

Tonali. The glue that holds it altogether.

Looking back at your time supporting Newcastle United, which are the times when you thought NUFC were potentially going to win something?

1974, 1976, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2013 and 2023

Would this automatically be the highlight of your time supporting NUFC if they beat Liverpool on Sunday?

Without a shadow of a doubt.

Anything special planned if/when we win this Cup Final?

‘Drink, drink, wherever you may be, we are the drunk and disorderly.’

Do you think if Newcastle United win this trophy it will live up to what you ever hoped it feel like, or do you think maybe a bit of an anti-climax, as in…is that it?

Great question. I honestly don’t know but I’d love to find out.

How would you describe how you feel ahead of this match – excited, terrified, can’t wait, dreading it…?

The nearer it gets, the more excited I’ve become. Unlike last time when I was convinced we were going to win against Man U, this time I’m not so confident, but still believe we can do it.

Do you think Eddie Howe and his team have got enough recognition for even getting to the final, considering the fact that in this cup run Newcastle have defeated current top four sides Chelsea, Forest and Arsenal (twice!) just to get to Wembley?

Not really.

The channel I watched the Liverpool versus PSG match on had Shay Given doing punditry. He was bigging NUFC up as you’d imagine but beyond that, I think most commentators think it’ll be a slam dunk for Liverpool and the fact that Eddie has steered us to a second Wembley final in three seasons appears to have gone under the radar. As does the route to the final, which has been tough.

In your optimistic moments do you think back to our first game in the competition this season, behind in the penalty shootout at Forest, then think maybe this was all meant to be…?

Well, perhaps.

When little Joe scored after less than a minute and considering it was Tonali’s first game back and Forest’s team looked like it had more reserves than regular first teamers, a toon victory looked nailed on, but of course the match played out rather differently.

What shouldn’t be lost on folk is that after big Joe missed, we were 3-1 down in the shootout and it looked bleak, Bruno having to score really. So maybe, just maybe, the football gods had already pre-ordained matters…..

As above, less confident, but in a strange way, more relaxed.

Another thing I said at the semi-final stage was that I’d rather be facing Liverpool than Spurs