Liverpool are coming off a demoralizing defeat to PSG in the Champions League. Having finished first in the League Phase, they were rather unfortunate in the way the draw happened.
Over the two legs, PSG were the better side and deserved to go through and Liverpool can now return to the drawing board and focus on whatever is left this campaign.
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Speaking of this season, the Reds have a Carabao Cup final to play this weekend against Newcastle United. The Magpies are a tricky customer to face, they are looking to win the trophy after a long time and are better rested.
That said, Liverpool are a world-class team who know what to do when the going gets tough and it must be remembered that they won the the League Cup last season in the absence of several key stars.
We at Paisley Gates bring to you the three key battles that may decide the Carabao Cup final between Liverpool and Newcastle United.
Harvey Barnes vs Jarell Quansah
Addressing the elephant in the room first – the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold. The Englishman suffered an injury against PSG and had to go off and with both himself and Conor Bradley ruled out, Arne Slot will likely be forced to start Jarrel Quansah in his position.
Quansah is not a natural at right-back and could have had a tough night, especially if Anthony Gordon was available. However, with the Englishman serving a suspension, Harvey Barnes should start on the left flank on which should let the Liverpool youngster breathe slightly easy.
Numbers clearly show that Gordon is a winger with high dribble success rate and he could have run circles around Quansah, whose strength isn’t one-on-one defending. However, Barnes isn’t that effective of a dribbler and lies below the media both in terms of dribbles attempted and success rate, which does favor Liverpool.
That said, Barnes is a goal threat and often finds himself in excellent attacking positions. This is something Quansah will need to be wary of as he tracks his man.
Alexander Isak vs Virgil van Dijk
Simply put – arguably the best striker in the Premier League this season vs the best defender in the Premier League. Isak vs Van Dijk is a battle for the ages and this is one key battle that could have a direct correlation to the result on the night.
Isak averages 0.79 goals per 90, which is the highest among all active strikers in the Premier League currently this season. The only number nine who averaged more than him was Jhon Duran who has moved to Al Nassr from Aston Villa now.
The Swedish number nine also manages to hit the target with slightly more than one of every two shots he attempts and when this happens, the goals are bound to flow. Thus, Isak has been a very prolific number nine capable of scoring with his feet and his head with equal measure.
This is where Van Dijk comes in. Newcastle look to cross a lot from wide areas to feed the ball to Isak and make use of his aerial prowess but in the Dutchman, the Magpies striker will be facing a center-back with one of the highest aerial duels success % in the league this season.
With a close to 70% success rate, this makes for a mouth-watering clash between two players who are at the heights of their game.
Mohamed Salah vs Tino Livramento
Mohamed Salah is coming into this Carabao Cup final on the back of two incredibly poor performances against PSG in the Champions League where he was tied down by Nuno Mendes and has arguably blown his chances of winning the Ballon d’ Or.
However, he will be keen to prove a point that he will step up during big games and he faces a very tricky customer in Tino Livramento.
With Lewis Hall ruled out for the rest of the season, the English right-back is expected to start from the left against the Reds.
Although not his favorable side, Livramento has the quality to play on the left side of the defense as well but Mohamed Salah will look to take advantage of this slight weakness. The African superstar, who missed last year’s final due to injury, has the ability to turn a game around singlehandedly.
It remains to be seen how it plays out between the Englishman and the Egyptian and this would be another battle to keep an eye out for in the Cup final.
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