Newcastle United expected starting XI v Liverpool as Eddie Howe makes major goalkeeping decision

Eddie Howe is set to name his most important Newcastle United starting XI of the season for the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.

The Magpies are without some key players, last week losing to Anthony Gordon suspension, and Sven Botman and Lewis Hall to longer-term injuries. But they managed to end the week on a positive note by beating West Ham United on Monday night.

“I think you have to come together stronger,” Howe said at his pre-match press conference. “So in the week that we had that certainly didn't go as planned when we had players and losing big players as well and important players, never easy, but you have to regroup and then you have to come back stronger and you have to come back stronger in a more unified way.

“That's always the key aspect, it's how you respond to it and we try to double down on our core strengths, that doesn't change regarding on individuals available and I think the spirit has been really good and that's why West Ham was so important. It wasn't lost on any of us after the game, that increased our feeling, that increased our unity, that increased our belief internally, we needed that win.

“Training has been good this week, the preparation has been very good, I've been happy with how everything is looking to this point, we're still two days left to go, so yeah, everything's positive now.”

Howe is facing some big selection calls, with the goalkeeping situation perhaps the biggest. Nick Pope got the nod against West Ham but Martin Dubravka is vying for a recall.

“Genuinely, whenever I look at a team selection for any game there's always decisions to make,” said Howe.

“That'll be no different for this game because you're always looking at the opposition and your own strengths and trying to figure out what players need to go up against certain players so that's what we've done.

“We don't have a huge pool of players to select from that, that's pretty obvious, we have a very tight squad and in some senses that can help you in different moments and that can also be a negative but I think we're in a good place after the win on Monday night, that was the key thing and all the players are feeling a lot more confident.”

Here’s how Newcastle United are expected to line-up against Liverpool: