The Reds' mounting fatigue and worrying lack of strength in depth was brutally exposed by Eddie Howe's inspired Magpies at Wembley
It's just as well Liverpool have such a healthy advantage at the top of the Premier League, because it feels as if the Reds are unravelling. Just five days after being knocked out of the Champions League by a superior Paris Saint-Germain side at Anfield, Arne Slot's side were outplayed in even more worrying fashion by Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final.
Sunday's game may have finished 2-1, but the final scoreline flattered the defending champions, who were abysmal during a horribly flat first-half performance and not much better after the interval.
It was only after the introductions of substitutes Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa, who netted a consolation goal in injury time, that a disturbingly lame Liverpool showed any signs of life. Indeed, Newcastle fully deserved a victory that ended a 70-year domestic trophy drought for one of the largest and most likeable fanbases in English football.
GOAL runs through all of the big winners and losers from a massive 'cupset' in front of a raucous crowd at Wembley….
AFPWINNER: Thomas Tuchel
The boy from Blyth, the teenager who lost a finger in a freak accident, the adolescent who had to forge his adulthood in non-league, now the senior pro with a senior England call-up and an everlasting hero to Newcastle. What a week it’s been for Dan Burn.
Thomas Tuchel brought about headlines for the wrong reasons when he decided to include the uncapped 32-year-old in his first squad as Three Lions boss. “He has had a very impressive career and he’s a very solid player,” was the German’s explanation. "He’s a very solid defender and a leader in the group. I have spoken to Dan and it was a very impressive phone call with very impressive messages that made me very comfortable in this call-up that we have picked a top team player that will help us build the right team."
Indeed, Burn provided for his team at both ends at Wembley. It was his towering header that broke the deadlock shortly before half-time. It was his commanding display that kept Liverpool at arm’s length for 95 minutes before Federico Chiesa wriggled free of the Magpies’ shackles.
Today, tomorrow, forever, Burn is the winner of Newcastle. No one can take that from him. In footballing terms, Tuchel has been vindicated before he’s even taken charge of a match. They all laughed at him, but they’re not laughing now. Roll on the international window.
AdvertisementAFPLOSER: Mohamed Salah
It feels wrong criticising Mohamed Salah given everything he's done for Liverpool this season. Put quite simply: the Reds wouldn't be 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League without their Egyptian King, who's putting together arguably the finest individual campaign we've seen since Thierry Henry's heyday.
However, the game's greatest players are judged by the highest of standards, and there's simply no hiding the fact that Liverpool's talisman went missing twice in the same week. After being once again pocketed by PSG full-back Nuno Mendes on Tuesday night, Salah also failed to show up against Newcastle.
Perhaps we shouldn't have been too surprised. The winger has a poor record at Wembley – it's now one goal in EIGHT appearances at the home of English football – but it was still staggering to see Salah fail to register a single shot over the course of the 90 minutes for the first time in his Reds career.
One imagines that whatever hope Salah had of winning the Ballon d'Or is now over after his – and Liverpool's – week from hell, but Slot needs his star man to rediscover his spark immediately after the international break because the league is not yet won, particularly with the leaders looking emotionally and physically drained after a second shattering setback in five days.
Getty Images SportWINNER: Alexander Isak
When Newcastle spent a club-record £63m to sign Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad in 2022, it was considered a bit of an overpay. He had just come off a year in which he scored merely six goals in La Liga, and though he was heavily linked with Arsenal for months, the Gunners plumped for Gabriel Jesus instead.
Nearly three years on, and everyone associated with the Magpies will consider that a bargain worth paying a hundred times over. Isak has been the face of Newcastle’s season to this point, and it was only fitting that he got in on the act with a goal – and several iconic images in the aftermath – to boot.
Virgil van Dijk, the Player of the Match in the 2024 final against Chelsea, appeared to have had the Swede’s number in the first half, winning essentially every duel and clearing every ball that came his way. But out of the blocks for the second half, Isak looked reborn. There was an extra oomph in his step, the eyes of a man who knew his moment was to come.
Isak had the ball in the net twice. Firstly, he was denied by an offside flag having turned a loose ball over the line following a corner, only for captain Bruno Guimaraes to be penalised for offside. Nothing would stop Isak at the second attempt, however. Andy Robertson was targeted by high balls and crosses all day long, and the resistance eventually broke when Tino Livramento’s delivery to that side was met by Jacob Murphy. There stood Isak, a couple of crucial yards free of Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, to turn home with precision, right in the side of the net away from Caoimhin Kelleher.
Someday, up may go an Isak statue, a smirk widening over his face and his thumb pointing backwards at the mess he’s left defenders in. In the not-too-distant future, Newcastle must bat away offers from other clubs who will try and pry him away. He’s their best striker since the great Alan Shearer, and this doesn’t have to be the end of his legend, rather the start for a new era in a more competitive English landscape.
AFPLOSER: Arne Slot
Just like Salah, Slot has worked wonders this season. With essentially the same squad as Jurgen Klopp, he's put Liverpool in an incredible position to win what would be just their second Premier League title – and has received plenty of plaudits as a result. However, the Dutchman undoubtedly made some mistakes on Sunday.
Slot's distrust of Darwin Nunez is obviously understandable, but the decision to persist with Diogo Jota up front was ill-advised at best. The Portuguese has just not looked right since returning from his latest injury lay-off and, after a poor performance against PSG, it was a genuine surprise to see Jota chosen to lead the line at Wembley.
The wisdom of persisting with his preferred midfield trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai also has to be questioned, given each one of them appears to be running on empty. Surely, it would have made more sense to inject some much-needed vitality into the engine room by recalling Jones, who made a positive impact when he came on?
Slot also needs to explain exactly why he's been so reluctant to use Chiesa, who gave Liverpool a flicker of hope with his injury-time goal. The Italian's injury issues are well-known, but he surely deserves more game time – particularly as so many of Liverpool's forwards are toiling either physically or mentally right now.
Of course, the title is still there for the taking for Slot and his players. But there is still work to be done, and the coach definitely has a job on his hands lifting a team running worryingly low on energy at the worst possible time. Because just sticking with his tried-and-trusted starting line-up is clearly not going to cut it anymore, as both Newcastle and PSG have proven.