Newcastle’s midfield monsters will be the difference makers against Liverpool, writes MARTIN KEOWN
The 1974 FA Cup final between Liverpool and Newcastle is the reason I got into football. It was the first final I watched and I was captivated by the emotion of both sets of fans.
Since that day these two great clubs have been on different journeys. Liverpool’s has been trophy-laden, Newcastle’s not so much. Change that at Newcastle and boss Eddie Howe will be a club legend.
That hinges on his contact monsters Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Joelinton winning the midfield slugfest against Liverpool. Newcastle have to find a way to stop the Reds’ passing game.
Howe will want to turn it into a battle. Guimaraes has won the most fouls in the league and he and Joelinton are in the top 10 for giving them away. They are masters of drawing contact.
Liverpool, though, have the best midfield this season. Ryan Gravenberch, who sits deep, is the most improved player under Arne Slot, Dominik Szoboszlai is non-stop action and Alexis Mac Allister is a World Cup winner who also likes to stick his foot in and often gives fouls away.
When the sides faced each other last month, Howe was without Joelinton and Alexander Isak through injury so switched from his usual 4-3-3 system to match Liverpool’s set-up as Anthony Gordon played through the middle and often pushed alongside striker Callum Wilson up front. It didn’t work. Liverpool had 12 shots to Newcastle’s three while Howe’s side didn’t muster a single one on target. With Isak and Joelinton back fit, Howe will return to his familiar system.
The midfield duo of Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton will make the difference against Liverpool
On Sunday, Newcastle will aim to win their first trophy since the FA Cup in 1955 – 70 years ago
Sunday’s EFL Cup final is also Liverpool’s only remaining cup competition, after they were knocked out of the Champions League by Paris-Saint Germain in midweek
The absence of suspended Gordon is a big loss. His will be big boots to fill for Harvey Barnes, who looked promising in the win over West Ham if a little rusty. Howe could even play Joe Willock on the left. He was superb in the semi-final against Arsenal, in place of the suspended Guimaraes, and bombed forward with Gordon and Jacob Murphy as they attacked like a runaway train.
I expect Liverpool to boss possession so Howe will want as much pace as possible to hit them on the counter-attack and in Isak, he has the most in-form striker in the league.
Isak is probably the only centre forward in the country who can get the run on Liverpool’s elite centre-half pairing of Virgin van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate.
But if Howe’s midfielders can win the ball and feed Isak, he could carve his name into Newcastle folklore.
