English League Cup Final, Battle of Two Worlds Liverpool and Newcastle United

LONDON, SATURDAY — The match between Liverpool and Newcastle United in the English League Cup final at Wembley Stadium, London, on Sunday (16/3/2025) at 11:30 PM WIB represents two contrasting worlds. Liverpool, as the most successful team with a collection of 10 trophies, faces Newcastle, a team unfamiliar with a history of trophies. The upcoming battle is guaranteed to be highly intense, considering the English League Cup serves as their solace.

Midweek last week, Liverpool faced the bitter reality of being eliminated in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League after losing in a penalty shootout to Paris Saint-Germain. This was despite "The Reds" having secured a one-goal advantage in the first leg at PSG's home ground. With Liverpool's highly impressive performance this season, it is unsurprising that they were predicted to achieve four titles in a single season. These four titles include the Champions League, the English Premier League, the English League Cup, and the FA Cup.

However, Liverpool is evidently not a club immune to defeat. The team led by manager Arne Slot unexpectedly succumbed to Plymouth Argyle, a team buried in the relegation zone of the Championship Division, during the fourth round of the FA Cup. Liverpool faced further setbacks after being eliminated by PSG in the Champions League.

Failing in those two tournaments was a severe blow for Liverpool. From being a team initially favored to sweep four titles, Liverpool now only has the opportunity to win two trophies this season. Following the painful failure in the Champions League, the English League Cup offers Liverpool a chance to ease their sorrow.

"We must do our best to lift that trophy. We have to work hard for it. It will be a great match, and I am really looking forward to it," said Liverpool's captain and central defender, Virgil Van Dijk, Saturday (15/3/2025).

Liverpool approaches the final match as the defending champion and the most successful team in the English League Cup. Since its inception in 1960, Liverpool has collected 10 trophies, making it the most successful team in the tournament.

On the other hand, Newcastle, as Liverpool's challenger in the final, has never experienced winning a championship title. This situation makes the duel between the two teams resemble a representation of two different worlds. Liverpool, with all its successes and experience in the English League Cup, faces a challenge from Newcastle, which is striving to make history by securing its first trophy.

Unlike Liverpool, Newcastle head into the final on the back of a narrow 1-0 win over West Ham in the Premier League. In addition, despite never winning the League Cup, Newcastle came close to winning it two seasons ago but lost 2-0 to Manchester United in the final.

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said his team has enough experience to realize the ambition of winning the first English League Cup trophy in history. According to Howe, his players are more confident because they have successfully eliminated four teams from the English League, namely Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Brentford, and Arsenal before setting foot in the final.

“We’ve had a really tough run of games in this tournament. I think to approach those games the way we did and in the midst of the Premier League and FA Cup, we’ve come through the stages. Now we’re in the final. The emotion and the noise out there has been a lot less. Hopefully, that will help us improve our game,” Howe said.

Although not as prestigious as the FA Cup or the Premier League, winning the League Cup is very important for Newcastle. This is the closest Newcastle has ever been to ending their domestic trophy drought. The last major trophy Newcastle won was the FA Cup in 1955. At that time, Newcastle successfully defeated Manchester City, 3-1, in the final.

If Newcastle beat Liverpool in the match, Howe will become the first English manager to win a major trophy with a Premier League team since 2008. At that time, the last English manager to do so was Harry Redknapp when he led Portsmouth to win the FA Cup. As for the English League Cup, Steve McClaren was the last English manager to win it with Middlesbrough in 2004.

Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes said he and his teammates are more confident in this final. They have tasted the bitterness of failure when they lost to MU two seasons ago in the same event. Therefore, all Newcastle players are very ambitious to make up for that failure this time.

"I feel we are more confident. Because we have reached the final before, we know we have more experience. We have changed some players, but the basics of the game are still the same. We are in our best moment," he said. (REUTERS)