Manchester United and Newcastle United will be pleased with how their seasons have played out. It isn’t a stretch to say that these two teams have already exceeded their pre-season expectations by quite some distance.
Both teams will be looking to challenge for the Champions League positions, given their consistent performances this season, so this game should be of high quality. Newcastle United will be hoping they can win their first domestic trophy for decades because there’s a trophy on the line.
Newcastle United is a team that is really in form. Eddie Howe’s men are adept at defending solidly and grinding out results, after losing only one game this season before they played Liverpool. As the new richest team on the planet, their fans are in high spirits. Many believe that the good times will start at St. James’ Park.
Premier League Form
If we’re going to go off the bookies’ odds and Premier League form, then Newcastle United are the team that should lift the EFL Cup. However, that is not always how it pans out. Throughout English football, and especially cup competitions, there have been so many examples of clubs that have arisen as underdogs and won trophies.
Manchester United shouldn’t be considered underdogs; that would be a stretch. However, Newcastle United sits neck and neck with them in the Premier League table. Given that the only team who have managed to beat Newcastle in the league this season were Liverpool, their form has been nothing short of sensational.
Manchester United are a team that is no stranger to cup finals. They will fancy themselves to defeat Newcastle, given that they have already been unlucky not to beat them this season in the Premier League.
Key Points
One of the deciding factors in this cup final could be that Newcastle United will be without their number one star goalkeeper, Nick Pope. Following a red card he received against Liverpool, he will not be available for this game. However, at this level of English professional football, this could be the difference between lifting the trophy and going home with a runners-up medal.
Manchester United are no stranger to this occasion or Wembley. One of their central men this season has been Marcus Rashford. If he was operating anywhere near his best, then he could have been the deciding factor for the Red Devils to take the trophy back to Manchester.
Conversely, Allan Saint-Maximin is back for Newcastle and he has recently put in several impressive performances. If he can hit the ground running and rise to the occasion, he could be the antidote to Marcus Rashford not firing on all cylinders for Manchester United. Alexander Isak could be another key man for the Magpies.
The fact that Manchester United have such broad experience in cup finals may also be the difference. Eddie Howe is a fantastic manager but he’s never won a domestic trophy in English football. That being said, Manchester United’s Dutch manager, Erik Ten Hag, has also not been in the division for that long and this would be his first trophy if he were successful.
What Could Decide This Game?
If we were to look at what could decide this game, it would revolve around whether or not both teams played their most potent line-up. It will be challenging to envision situations where either team would rest players, given that silverware is on the line. Granted, it is one of the lesser trophies in English football, if such a thing exists.
However, both teams will be fired up for this one. Newcastle United will be looking to end a trophy drought that has spanned the best part of half a century. The television was black and white the last time Newcastle United won a major domestic trophy. Even if they fall short in this match, it feels as though they’re at the precipice of something enormous.
For a city the size of Newcastle, they have a large fan base that has been starved of success for a long time. With this ferocious support behind them, their team could be driven to lift the trophy and kickstart the beginning of what looks like a golden period in their history.
Although Erik Ten Hag is new to English football, he is no stranger to lifting silverware. The successful Dutch manager has had a great spell at Ajax. This could be the difference that could lead Manchester United to victory in a closely fought game.