Matt Ritchie’s frank Carabao Cup decision as Newcastle United makes a comeback to Wembley

For the Carabao Cup final, Matt Ritchie hopes Newcastle United will be “better equipped” than they were in 2023.

In the 2025 Carabao Cup final, the Magpies will play Liverpool at Wembley this weekend.

Newcastle United has advanced to their second cup final in three seasons.

Eddie Howe is giving it another chance to put an end to Newcastle’s trophy drought.

There is a different vibe to this final, even though Newcastle is facing a stronger team this time.

The 2023 visit to Wembley was a major event. For many, just getting to the final was special.

On the pitch, Newcastle did not rise to the occasion. They actually never had much of an impact on Man United.

In an interview with the Athletic, former Newcastle United midfielder Matt Ritchie reflected

on the 2023 Carabao Cup final and what went wrong, saying, “It was like a birthday balloon

that has been up for two weeks.” “On reflection, the occasion probably stumped us.

The excitement, the tickets, the whole infrastructure of the club being pushed to its maximum.

The Magpies will hopefully learn from their mistakes and approach Sunday’s match against Liverpool differently.

Although fans are looking forward to the trip to London, the game is more important than the occasion.

Newcastle is preparing for the final in a different way than they did two years ago, but there is one significant similarity,

and that is not a good one: in 2023, Newcastle United entered the final without Nick Pope,

as the goalkeeper had been sent off in the final’s final Premier League game,

forcing Loris Karius to make his Toon debut.The balloon lost a bit of air.”

Ritchie views the 2023 final as having been “stumped.”