After their 1-0 against West Ham at London Stadium last night, Newcastle United will go into the League Cup final against Liverpool in good energy. Manager Eddie Howe said post match feeling proud about his team and expresses hope for better results.
Newcastle have not won a major trophy for 70 years. However, they did not allow Sunday’s showdown distract them as Bruno Guimaraes goal in the 63rd minute kept them firmly in the frame to qualify for the Champions League. It was a perfecttimely boost for Newcastle who had lost three of their previous four Premier League games.
Howe said: One of our best wins of the season, not in terms of performance but desire and hear. We’ll focus fully on Liverpool now. We’ll take everything into consideration. I felt we were in need of a win to go into the final with a real boost and lift will do us the world of good. Also for our league table position today’s win was vital.”
Howe hinted that the wait ahead of the final has been a distraction for his players but that Monday’s display showed the major materials needed to be a successful team.
“That’s why for me it was such a good win,” He added. “It would be easy for the players to be distracted but they were present. These games, we learned this last time can be quite a long wait, everyone talking about it but you have massive games ahead. Pleased it’s here, hopefully we can perform well.”
It is the second time in three seasons that Howe has taken Newcastle to the League Cup final. In 2023 they lost to Manchester United. Howe selected goalkeeper Nick Pope ahead of Martin Dubravka on Monday and said deciding who would start at Wembley was a tough decision.
“Difficult call, but it is not the only one. The goalkeeper situation has not been clear as both goalkeepers have been high-class. I was pleased with Nick today. You look for the best man for the job. You take form, training and everything into consideration. Tough calls to make.”
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