Carabao Cup final: Liverpool cannot afford REPEAT of Paris Saint Germain mistake

Prior to last week, Liverpool's season was going smoothly as Arne Slot still had three trophies in his sights.

However, now that the Reds are out of the Champions League following a penalty shootout loss to Paris Saint-Germain, claims are floating around that we could end the season with only the Premier League this season, an argument framed as though that would be some sort of disaster.

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Of course, it is well known that this Liverpool side was not expected to win the league this season, and the prospects of a trophy win of any kind looked to be optimistic at best, given the club had spent very little money in the summer and Slot was very much an unknown manager to many people.

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However, the Reds have shown great prowess this season, and now that they are in another Carabao Cup final, the chance to retain the trophy is not one to be sniffed at.

As such, while many Liverpool fans will be more than content with the Premier League title coming to Anfield, the Carabao Cup would be a nice addition to the club's end of season celebrations.

But after a grueling tie against PSG earlier this week, the task of beating Newcastle at Wembley is far from straightforward.

Lessons to be learnt after the PSG defeat at Anfield

While many of the claims following the PSG defeat involved a lot of introspection, comparing the fitness of the two teams, looking at the faults of players and where the Reds need to go in the transfer market to be better next season, the current campaign still needs to draw to an end before an autopsy can take place on the squad.

As such, the focus needs to remain firmly on Liverpool's next game, which happens to be the Carabao Cup final at Wembley this afternoon, and if the team aren't careful, they could be dragged into a similar brawl.

Newcastle will be missing some important players for the game, including Lewis Hall and Sven Botman to injuries, and Anthony Gordon to a red card suspension, but Eddie Howe's team is still littered with quality.

As such, Liverpool will have to be right on their game if they are to add an 11th Carabao Cup to the club's trophy cabinet.

The game against Chelsea in 2022 went right down to the wire, with penalty kicks being the decisive factor which fell the Reds' way as Kep Arrizabalaga skied his spot-kick to give Liverpool an 11-10 win following the 120 minutes of outfield play.

Likewise, while the team was severely impacted by injuries when the 2024 final arrived last season, it took a towering header from Virgil Van Dijk in the 118th minute to split Liverpool and Chelsea, luckily bringing the contest to an end before penalties were required.

This time around, it has been confirmed that extra time and penalties will once again be the protocol is a winner isn't found in 90 minutes, and with Liverpool having already gone through 120 minutes and penalties earlier this week, the team knows exactly what it has to do to avoid risking the same fate.

However, with Trent-Alexander Arnold, Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez and Tyler Morton already confirmed to be absent from the matchday squad, Liverpool might face a bit of an uphill battle if they want to win in the regulation time.

Earlier in the season, the Reds' visit to St James' Park resulted in an enthralling 3-3 draw and while the recent contest at Anfield saw the hosts win 2-0, the Magpies were missing their star striker Alexander Isak - who will play a massive role in today's game.

As such, if Liverpool want to win the game, then they will have to come out of the blocks quick, which might be a bit of an ask with some of the players likely to still be feeling the effects of the tiring PSG loss.

Otherwise, further injuries are being risked which could unnecessarily complicate the rest of Liverpool's season - remember the title isn't mathematically secured quite yet - although an international break directly follows the completion of this weekend.

Furthermore, if extra time is required, then fresh substitutions will need to be utilised, while ensuring the team's best penalty takers remain on the pitch - i.e., Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister.

And if the fans have to sit through penalties again, then the players will know to pick their spot, either low or high in the corners, and commit to whatever way they decide to go - making sure to not accidentally make the same mistake as Liverpool's latest transfer target Julian Alvarez did in midweek, by touching the ball twice.

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The Reds will be confident they can win, by whatever means, and while the PSG loss earlier in the week might have taken a lot out of the players, they will be focused and well-versed in what to do if the game is prolonged beyond the 90 minutes.

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