Newcastle United have suffered a massive blow in for their Carabao Cup final against Manchester United as their first-choice goalkeeper Nick Pope was sent off in the Premier League encounter vs Liverpool. Due to this, he will be suspended for the final next week.
This has created an interesting situation at the club cause the backup keeper Martin Dubravka is ineligible to play for the Magpies as he featured in the cup for the Red Devils during his loan spell earlier this season. Hence, it is very likely that former Liverpool goalie Loris Karius will get his opportunity and debut for Newcastle at Wembley.
A Return for Lorius Karius
Eddie Howe’s side experienced a shocking loss at home against an average Liverpool side by a scoreline of 2-0 courtesy from Darwin Nunez and Cody Gapko. But their match got even worse cause due to a counter-attack from the Reds, Pope attempted to clear the long ball from Alisson towards Mo Salah, but Nick slipped and due to this he committed a clear handball offence outside the box which got him sent off. Hence now Howe would be looking to rely on Karius.
The German keeper spent a lengthy spell at the Merseyside team but he is best remembered for the two mistakes in the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid which costed Liverpool the title. After the final, he was immediately loaned out for two seasons and eventually he left the club permanently.
So he now has the chance to turn around his career by displaying the best performance of his career and redeeming himself. If he keeps a clean sheet against an in-form team like Manchester United in the final of a cup, that would certainly be a statement from him about his form as a goalkeeper. All in all, Howe would still miss Pope who has been one of the best PL keepers this season with 12 clean sheets.
