Newcastle face a difficult situation in the Carabao Cup Final, as their No.1 goalkeeper Nick Pope got a straight red card at the weekend for handling the ball outside his box in a 2-0 home defeat to Liverpool. Pope is suspended and as a result will miss the cup final.
Newcastle’s back-up goalie, Martin Dubravka, is cup tied after having featured in the competition for Manchester United, the team the magpies will face in the final and therefore, also cannot feature at Wembley on Sunday.
This leaves Eddie Howe with little choice but to select Loris Karius, former Liverpool goalkeeper and Newcastle’s current third choice shot stopper. Fourth choice keeper Mark Gillespie could feature but Karius’s big game experience makes him the more likely candidate.
Karius played for Liverpool for 6 years before joining Newcastle in the summer. The German has yet to play for the Magpies.
Karius is unfortunately best remembered for his performance in the 2018 Champions League final for Liverpool vs Real Madrid, in which the 29-year-old made two huge errors that resulted in goals for Madrid. Liverpool lost the game 3-1.
Jurgen Klopp spoke to the media after Liverpool’s win at Newcastle was asked about the possibility of Loris Karius playing for Newcastle in the League Cup Final. The question of whether Karius had the mental toughness to compete again in such a big game was put to Klopp. The Liverpool boss was complimentary to the goalkeeper, stating, “I have no doubt about that. He’s a great goalie, that’s why Newcastle signed him.”
Klopp has defended Karius for his performance in the 2018 final, stating that the keeper had a concussion during the match which effected his performance. Karius was later diagnosed with a concussion five days after the final.
