Liverpool vs Newcastle LIVE commentary: Alexander-Arnold out of Carabao Cup final as Magpies look to end trophy drought

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Liverpool and Newcastle will contest English football's first major trophy of the season in the Carabao Cup final this weekend.

The Reds beat Chelsea in last year's showpiece to get their hands on the trophy and now they’re aiming to win at Wembley again.

Liverpool won the Carabao Cup for the 10th time in Jurgen Klopp's last seasonCredit: Getty

The Reds overturned a one-goal deficit to smash Spurs 4-1 in their semi-final in pursuit of their eleventh League Cup crown.

Arne Slot's men will now take on Newcastle who cruised past Arsenal in the final four, beating them 2-0 in both legs of their clash.

Eddie Howe has led the Magpies to two Carabao Cup finals in three years, and he'll be hoping for a different outcome this time.

The Toon were beaten finalists in the 2023 edition, losing 2-0 to Manchester United as the club's long wait to end their hunt for domestic silverware continues.

Liverpool vs Newcastle: talkSPORT coverage

The 2024/25 Carabao Cup final is set to take place at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, March 16.

Kick-off at Wembley Stadium is scheduled for 4:30pm.

talkSPORT will have live coverage of the final presented by Adrian Durham.

Commentary will come from Sam Matterface, former England striker Darren Bent and former Newcastle midfielder Lee Clark.

In addition, talkSPORT.com will provide a live blog to cover all of the best action and reaction from Wembley.

To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

Listen via the talkSPORT app here, or on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

Visit talkSPORT BET for all the latest odds and bet boosts.

The match will also be broadcast live on TV on Sky Sports Main Event and Football, as well as free-to-air ITV1 and on ITV X.

Liverpool's clash with Newcastle will be watched by fans up and down the countryCredit: Getty

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Carabao Cup winners

Winners over the last decade

Chelsea - 2015 Manchester City - 2016 Manchester United - 2017Manchester City - 2018Manchester City - 2019Manchester City - 2020Manchester City - 2021Liverpool - 2022Manchester United -2023Liverpool - 2024

Carabao Cup: Route to final

Newcastle

Round 2 – Beat Nottingham Forest 4-3 on penalties following 1-1 drawRound 3 – Beat Wimbledon 1-0Round 4 – Beat Chelsea 2-0Quarter-final – Beat Brentford 3-1Semi-final – Beat Arsenal 4-0 on aggregate

Liverpool

Round 3 – Beat West Ham 5-1Round 4 – Beat Brighton 3-2Quarter-final – Beat Southampton 2-1Semi-final – Beat Tottenham 4-1 on aggregate

The Carabao Cup will be the first major trophy contested at Wembley this seasonCredit: Getty

Liverpool vs Newcastle: Team news

Liverpool are going to be without Trent Alexander-Arnold, who picked up a injury in midweek against PSG.

Slot has confirmed Alexander-Arnold is out, and he will now join Tyler Morton, Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley on the sidelines.

Ibrahima Konate was taken off in midweek too, but he's fit.

Newcastle are enduring their own crisis for the final, with Anthony Gordon serving a suspension following his red card.

Lewis Hall has been confirmed to be out for the season with a foot injury - ironically sustained in the Premier League defeat to Liverpool.

Sven Botman has since been ruled out of the Wembley final as well, with Jamaal Lascelles also out on the sidelines.

There were also concerns over Alexander Isak after his recent issues, but the Toon's star man is expected to be fine.

Gordon will now be absent from the cup final against LiverpoolCredit: Getty

Carabao Cup Final: What has been said?

Slot confirmed that Alexander-Arnold is out of the final this weekend in his pre-match press conference on Friday.

He said: “Trent is not available. He will not be there at the final but he is still to be assessed.

"We do expect him back by the end of the season."

On Konate, Slot continued: "We haven't trained yet, but I expect Ibou to train today.”

Alexander-Arnold is outCredit: AFP via Getty

Meanwhile, for Howe it presents an opportunity to become a hero.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, he said: "We want to break that wait for a trophy. It's not a negative. We're trying to look at it the other way round, it's the chance to make history and be remembered positively.

"That's not easy in this job. I want the players to look at it that way, to attack the game and give a good representation of ourselves."