Newcastle United are set for a Wembley “bonus” according to former England star Paul Merson. The ex-Arsenal man feels that extra time and penalties against PSG will have drained Liverpool mentally and physically on Tuesday night at Anfield and that can only bode well for the Magpies in the Carabao Cup final. Despite playing just 24 hours earlier at the London Stadium in a 1-0 win against West Ham, Newcastle have had extra recovery time and an extra day to prepare for the big day.
Merson said on Sky Sports: “I think it’s a bonus, an advantage for Newcastle. I would think mentally, losing the game. If they’d have won the game and won on penalties, they’d have that energy. It would have come, you get the air in the lungs.”
Arne Slot’s side may also be doubly determined to atone for their Champions League exit by lifting the Carabao Cup. But Merson feels that will need some motivational skills from Slot to do in time for Sunday.
Merson added: “Now they’d be a bit distraught. They’ll be disappointed. They’ve got to pick themselves up for a cup final against a team that haven’t won a trophy since I was born, so it’s a massive football match. Big advantage to Newcastle.”
The Sky Sports pundit believes that the devastation of losing to PSG will have a bigger impact on Liverpool than many will expect. Merson said: “I know it’s a nice one to get picked up (a League Cup final) for, but they’ll be disappointed, you know, playing here tonight, going out the Champions League, and you looked at the draw and if they could have won, they would have probably played Aston Villa where they’d have fancied themselves, even though I thought it’d have been a hard game.”
Liverpool go into the clash with injury doubts over Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate.
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