What the win at West Ham means for Newcastle's Carabao Cup final starting XI

New York Times

11-03-2025

'We're not thinking about the final,' had been the grim insistence from inside Newcastle United all week.
There's logic in that. A win took Newcastle level on points with fifth-place Manchester City; a loss would have left them in ninth. The difference between a Champions League campaign and maybe no European football at all.
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Sunday's Carabao Cup final was a dense reality which hung over Newcastle's 1-0 at West Ham like east London smog, a game defined by what it was not.
For the initial, forgettable hour, the main flashpoint from Newcastle's first trip to London this week was the teamsheet delivered by Eddie Howe 75 minutes before kick-off.
With left winger Anthony Gordon suspended, left-back Lewis Hall injured, and a battle for the starting goalkeeper shirt, the Newcastle head coach had three major decisions to make. Nick Pope retained his place in goal. Tino Livramento slid over to left-back to accommodate Kieran Trippier on the other flank. And Harvey Barnes started ahead of Joe Willock on the left wing.
If this wasn't the Wembley team set in stone, this was at least the Wembley team doodled into fogged-up glass.
Newcastle find themselves on the threshold of what they do not know; eternity or apathy, elation or angst. The risk was forgetting that Monday's door was not Liverpool's rotating red blur, but West Ham's metal-studded wood, potentially thudding shut onto their nose.
They began with understandable trepidation, knowing what a mistimed tackle could mean. A big early chance for West Ham's Tomas Soucek flew over the bar before Newcastle settled, doing fine, but ultimately just doing rather than feeling, creating, driving. The feeling veered between an unproductive Friday afternoon and the Sunday scaries, an international team playing their final warm-up before a major tournament, black and white keys struggling to find a melody under a teetering piano lid.
'To be honest with you, of course we think about the final,' said Bruno Guimaraes, transparently. 'I think for us, it's like the World Cup. You know, this Carabao Cup for us is everything because we want to make history for this club.'
History has its footnotes. This game knew that and was determined to live up to that citation.
Howe and Jason Tindall laboured to find a spark; in the assistant's shuttles between the dugout and his touchline-glued manager, he virtually walked the mile home to his Mile End birthplace. Their decisions were largely justified.
Pope faced questions after conceding goals which exposed his positioning and speed to ground. With calls from large sections of the fanbase for Martin Dubravka to regain his starting place, Pope needed and received a quiet evening.
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Howe had options to replace Lewis Hall at left-back but fewer than he might have liked, having sold Lloyd Kelly to Juventus in January, predominantly for PSR-related reasons.
Sven Botman's injury meant Dan Burn was never likely to slide across to the flank, while Matt Targett has played little football for two seasons. Slotting Trippier into his natural right-back position and playing Livramento on the left had rationale — Livramento's preference to progress the ball through carries rather than passes is more suited to a player operating on their weaker side, and he duly finished the game with the most carries.
Hall's absence was still notable — with Barnes often sliding inside during transitions to play through the middle, and Livramento's reluctance to whip in a left-footed ball sometimes slowing the pace of the break.
Livramento's challenge on Sunday will be marking Mohamed Salah — and in Jarrod Bowen, a direct and physical right winger who loves to cut inside, he had a Salah-lite to prepare against. Though Bowen momentarily had the better of the Newcastle man early, he quickly faded from the game. Liverpool's Egyptian master is a whole different challenge, but Livramento's one-on-one defending was morale-boosting.
But the evening's slight surprise was Barnes' start on the left, his first in three months, having lost his place and suffered a thigh injury.
Howe had the option of Willock and Joelinton, whose ability to rotate, eating up large spaces, is made for big matches on big pitches. At their best, they resemble the right and left hooks of the same boxer. At their worst, they punch each other out, leaving Newcastle exposed.
Barnes has the opposite issue. The 27-year-old can be peripheral, failing to contribute in or out of possession, before springing up to sense a chance. His numbers are twice better as a substitute, against tiring defences, than they are as a starter — a goal or assist every 79 minutes versus 181.
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If Newcastle cannot create, he is a passenger. While left wing rival Anthony Gordon is an omnipresent terrier gnawing at heels, to both his benefit and detriment, Barnes is like a greyhound who spends most of their time with their head under the sofa cushions.
To Barnes' credit, if Monday evening was still an audition, he sought out involvements. Three first-half chances came and went — a tame poke wide from Guimaraes' clever through ball, before he did well to flick Trippier's fired ball goalwards through his own legs, and direct a header on target from a corner.
Then, after 63 minutes, he provided the game's key moment of quality — having seen his own shot blocked, he took two moments, worked a half-yard of space, and curled a cross over Maximilian Kilman and towards Guimaraes, who slid home from six yards.
Barnes' selection appeared to signal he was Howe's favoured option to start Sunday's final — a sentiment which will become entrenched after his head coach's post-match analysis.
'I'm pleased with all the players on our new look left-hand side, with Tino Livramento and Harvey Barnes,' Howe said. 'I thought they did really well together as well, so that should give us great confidence going into the weekend.'
That said, it is out-of-character for Howe to imply at tactical information for no good reason — in a world of double-bluffs, view those words with suspicion.
Newcastle deserved a first clean sheet in seven league matches, though Howe's side were nowhere close to their ceiling. Sometimes momentum begins with ugly victories; a boulder is slowest when first tipped. Think back to the 1-0 win over Brentford after last season's poor start, bringing 17 points from the next 21 available, or even Jonjo Shelvey's winner at Leeds United back in January 2022, right at the start of Howe's tenure, to drag Newcastle away from relegation danger.
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Speaking of ancient history, this will be the first time Newcastle that Newcastle have entered a major final on the back of a victory since a 6-1 victory over Aston Villa in 1952 — they lost the previous four tune-ups.
These, though, are the statistics that matter: Newcastle have no new injuries, no new suspensions, and won three points away from home. They've earned the right to think about the final — not linger on regrets from the days before.
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