The Newcastle Eddie Howe boss looks forward to a Carabao Cup final against Liverpool next month.
Magpies’ opponents for The Wembley Showpiece on March 16th were confirmed on Thursday night as Arne Slot’s Premier League leaders after Tottenham 4-0 disassembled the Anfield to secure a 4-1 overall victory.
Howe, whose side recorded their point in the final, winning Arsenal 4-0 on two legs, says it will be a fantastic occasion next month, but urged his side to focus on “immediate challenges” first, starting starting From the fourth round of the FA Cup this weekend when they travel to Birmingham on Saturday.
Toon boss said: “It’s a great game. Liverpool did what they do at Anfield – it was a very good performance. Anyone who was about to face would be a hard game, but to play Liverpool is a tie.
“We really look forward to it. But we have to put it on bed and focus on the immediate challenges.
“The biggest challenge is to eliminate the final from our minds. When we play like Liverpool, Man City and Nottingham Forest, very important and difficult games.”
It is the second time in three years Newcastle appears in the final of the competition after the 2-0 loss at Manchester United in 2023.
“I think we will make things slightly different, but not from a preventive point of view,” Howe added.
“I was more preventive as a player. As a manager I tend to look at things slightly differently. I have become much more free of myself. I have to take the players in the best condition and let fate do the rest of the work.”
News Team: Botman to Miss Birmingham Game
Eddie Howe in Birmingham City:
“We respect them, Chris Davies has done a brilliant job. Every time you go to Birmingham, you realize the size of the club. It is a huge football club with a brilliant basis of supporters.
It’s a very good ground to play. We see this as great… pic.twitter.com/irpxmiuq3u
– Newcastle United (@nufc) 7 February 2025
Howe said Sven Botman would lose Saturday’s visit to League One leaders with a knee issue that is not considered to be serious that he has just returned from a cruciate ligament injury.
“I don’t think it will be available this weekend. He has hit the opposite knee to ACL’s injury,” Howe said.
“He is not a serious injury. But he will keep him out of Birmingham before we evaluate him next week.”
‘PSR changed our hiring strategy’
Newcastle did not sign players during the recently closed January transfer window, and Howe said the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules means that they focus more on talent development instead of buying ready -made stars.
He said: “Making stars is something that the club has had a vision to do since I arrived. The kids in the other building (academy) can really help grow and bloom (players) and cultivate them in the first team.
“With the PSR, I think we are probably more weighed in this direction. If you can bring one or two gemstones, then it may have a huge difference and help to try to achieve whatever we want here.
“There is still room for the signature of established players and it must exist because of the size we are. It is a mixture of both of them.”
