Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has received no nasty surprises ahead of Sunday’s EFL Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley.
The Magpies are bidding to end a 70-year trophy drought in the English capital but will have to do so without the injured Lewis Hall (foot), Sven Botman (knee) and Jamaal Lascelles (knee) as well as the suspended Anthony Gordon.
However, Howe revealed on Friday morning that he expects the rest of his troops to be available for the gargantuan encounter, where he should not be facing many tricky selection dilemmas.
Arguably the manager’s biggest decision comes in goal, where Martin Dubravka kept two clean sheets in the semi-final successes over Arsenal, and the veteran shot-stopper has likely done enough to get the nod over Nick Pope.
Fabian Schar and Dan Burn – who has just been called up to the England squad for the first time – will form Dubravka’s central barrier, while Tino Livramento and Kieran Trippier operate out wide.
Bruno Guimaraes was the match-winner in Monday’s 1-0 Premier League victory at Newcastle United, and the Brazilian can expect to form part of an unchanged midfield trio with Joelinton and Sandro Tonali at Wembley.
Gordon’s ban means that Harvey Barnes will come up against whoever Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s replacement is, while Jacob Murphy is also set to support Alexander Isak, who has produced three goals and one assist from his last five games against the Reds.
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Trippier, Schar, Burn, Livramento; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Barnes
> Click here to see how Liverpool could line up for the final
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