Title celebrations in Liverpool or Newcastle?
The first important piece of silverware is up for grabs this weekend as Liverpool take on Newcastle at Wembley for the right to lift the EFL trophy. Let’s take a closer look at Sunday’s final!
This is the 65th edition of the cup, generally regarded as the lowest priority cup on offer to PL clubs, but it still offers the prestige of a day out at Wembley as well as a guaranteed place in Europe next season. Both of these teams will be hoping to qualify for Europe via their league position, but in the past, it has allowed some of the top divisions lesser clubs a way in with the likes of Birmingham City, Swansea and Middlesbrough amongst the winners since the turn of the century.
This time around it is Liverpool taking on Newcastle, two of the PL ‘Big Six’, meaning we can expect a high quality match. Last season it was Liverpool who won it and they will be hoping to make it three years out of four, as they also won in 2022. Standing in their way are Newcastle, a sleeping giant of a club that has recently been awoken but has not won a trophy since 1955.
Liverpool: What to expect
Liverpool will be looking to bounce back from the disappointment of losing in the CL midweek, the defeat at home to PSG means their European dreams are over for another season. What better way to get over that disappointment though than to go on and lift a trophy a few days later. Last year’s win was Jurgen Klopp’s final trophy at Liverpool and it might well be Arne Slot’s first. With the league looking like a done deal, a domestic double would be a great way to start for the new Liverpool manager, something that most Liverpool fans would admit was beyond their expectations. They do have some problems to contend with though, especially given the gruelling midweek match. It appears they will have a somewhat depleted defence with Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Gomez and Bradley all likely to be missing. On the plus side, they have an excellent record against Newcastle, so hopes will be high among the travelling Reds.
Newcastle: What to expect
Newcastle played Monday night, beating West Ham 1-0 and they will be hoping to make it two wins in a row from trips to London. Their fans are desperate for success and some silverware, they have seen much better times of late under their new owners and manager Eddie Howe and they reached the final of this competition two years ago, only to lose out to Manchester United. Their impressive 4-0 aggregate win over Arsenal in the semi-finals will certainly have given them confidence but they too have a number of important players missing for this match. Anthony Gordon, Sven Botman and Lewis Hall are all big misses for Newcastle and much of the onus will be on this season’s star man, Alexander Isak, to produce the goods in front of goal yet again. He has already scored against Liverpool this season, one of his 22 goals so far for the Magpies.
Prediction
Liverpool are relatively strong favourites to win (1.70), understandable given their dominant league position and history against Newcastle. They have won seven of the last ten meetings with the remaining three finishing as draws. The last time Newcastle beat Liverpool was in 2015.
Please note that the odds might have changed since the writing and/or publication of this article.
Last updated: 02.04.25
