Newcastle United star 'sees specialist' ahead of Liverpool final as Alexander Isak update given

It appears to be advantage Liverpool in their bid to retain the Carabao Cup.

The Reds were already favourites ahead of the Wembley showdown against Newcastle United on Sunday 16 March. Arne Slot’s side are the runaway Premier League leaders - as they extended their advantage to 13 points after a 2-0 win over the Magpies at Anfield last week.

What’s more, Liverpool are awash of players who have significant big-game experience. Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah, Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson have won seven major trophies for the Reds - while every member of the current squad bar Federico Chiesa was at the club when they beat Chelsea 1-0 in last year’s final.

Newcastle, meanwhile, aim to win their first major trophy since 1955. The wait for silverware among the Toon Army is well-documented, having lost the Carabao Cup final against Manchester United two years ago.

And less than two weeks before the Wembley affair, the Magpies have squad issues after exiting the FA Cup fifth round at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion. Anthony Gordon’s red card has made the headlines, with the winger’s shove Jan Paul van Hecke meaning he must serve a three-match ban and will be suspended for the final. Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has admitted an appeal will be considered.

Injury latest

But the Magpies could be sweating on another key player in Lewis Hall. The regular left-back was absent against Brighton because of an ankle injury suffered after the loss to Liverpool. Hall has had a scan and got a specialist’s opinion on his issue. Howe said: “It’s an ankle problem that Lewis picked up after the Liverpool game. He didn’t really recover well. He felt pain, so he had a scan and now he’s been to see a specialist. We’re awaiting further news. There’s no timescale on that at the moment.”

Newcastle suffered a hammer blow when Alexander Isak was ruled out of the league defeat by Liverpool with a groin injury. The striker, who has plundered 21 goals this season, had a minor groin injury. He was back against Brighton but came off with four minutes of normal time remaining. Kieran Trippier, deputising for Hall, and Timo Livramento also had to be withdrawn.

“Tino was clearly struggling, although I think it was cramp more than an injury,” added Howe. “He was limited, and that limited us a lot, although I thought the players around him covered that really well.

“Alex just felt a bit of general tightness. I don’t think it was an injury, it was just general tightness, but we felt as though he had to come off. Kieran felt his back, so we were navigating a lot of problems through that game that we hope don’t have long-term consequences for us because we have such a small squad.”

Liverpool injury news

Liverpool, as things stand, will be without two senior options. Right-back Conor Bradley is currently sidelined for a hamstring problem and may not be back in time for the Carabao Cup final.

Joe Gomez will definitely have to watch the game from the Wembley stands after recently having hamstring surgery. There is hope Gomez will be back before the end of the campaign.