Liverpool will have to dust themselves down quickly from their UEFA Champions League exit during the week, as they have the little matter of a cup final to look forward to.

The Reds will meet Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium this Sunday for the Carabao Cup Final and have an opportunity to win the trophy back-to-back, as the current holders.

Last season, Liverpool relied on captain Virgil van Dijk to deliver a headed winner in extra time, but the trophy held greater significance as Jürgen Klopp’s last in charge of the club with mostly academy players, given the wholesale injury issues at the time to key first-team players.

Just over twelve months later, Arne Slot will arrive at Wembley for the first ever time, in search of his first trophy as boss, with a potential double up for grabs as his side currently sit fifteen points clear at the Premier League summit, with ten games to go.

Liverpool and Newcastle without 8 players for Carabao Cup final at Wembley	Watch the moment Newcastle's players and staff storm the Wembley pitch after Carabao Cup triumph over Liverpool ended trophy hoodoo	Kieran Trippier tells Liverpool that Newcastle has 'learned a lot' ahead of Wembley return

Ahead of the Wembley showdown, we will be taking a look at five players who could write their names in Liverpool folk law against Newcastle and become club heroes on the hallowed turf at Wembley.

JARELL QUANSAHOli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images.

Jarell Quansah will come as a surprise inclusion in the Liverpool starting eleven on Sunday, but needs must with Trent Alexander-Arnold picking up an ankle injury against Paris Saint-Germain.

Quansah replaced the right-back in the seventy-second minute and produced a great shift when Liverpool were in search of a much-needed goal.

He remained a consistent threat to the PSG defence from set–pieces, and came inches away from scoring when his late, back-post header collided with the woodwork and rolled across the goal-line, before the Parisiens were able to clear.

The centre-half also went close from a corner, but couldn’t find the correct connection.

Defensively, Quansah didn’t put a foot wrong when tasked up against some of the best attackers in the world on current form.

Despite PSG’s extra-time pressure, Liverpool remained compact and the 22-year-old was a main part of that.

Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez remain sidelined therefore Quansah is likely to take Alexander-Arnold’s place from the start, although Arne Slot has since given a potential boost on the right-back’s chances for Sunday, when previewing the game in the last 24 hours.

If Jarell Quansah is given the nod on Sunday, a solid performance would be needed both in defence and attack as he would be replacing Liverpool’s main source of creativity.

A victory and clean sheet would likely see Quansah’s name as one of the main reasons for a potential Wembley triumph.

DARWIN NÚÑEZCredit: EPA.

Darwin Núñez was one of players who failed to convert in the shootout against PSG on Tuesday and there’s no doubt that it would have been yet another setback for the Uruguayan in a Liverpool shirt.

Núñez has consistently struggled to make himself a mainstay in the side due to his unpredictability in front of goal, and despite scoring against Southampton, it was another case of one step forward and two steps back following the events, just three days later.

The striker has scored just seven times in almost forty appearances, but has only started in seventeen of those.

Although, he could be in from the start on Sunday with Diogo Jota having a troubled time as the centre-forward, right now.

If Darwin Núñez is to win the cup final for Liverpool, then all of his struggles will soon be forgotten.

Football is a funny old game, sometimes.

CURTIS JONESCurtis Jones feeling disappointed after missing crucial penalty against PSG.

David Rawcliffe/Propaganda.

Just like Núñez, Curtis Jones was another unfortunate man to miss a penalty in midweek, and will arrive at Wembley with a chance to make amend.

He is unlikely to start for Liverpool, but will almost certainly come into consideration if Arne Slot needs to look to his bench.

Jones has had an inconsistent season under Slot with injuries, but prior to the penalty miss against PSG, was starting to gain form.

As a local lad, reaching a cup final with your boyhood club will always remain a special feeling and if given the opportunity, Curtis Jones will be desperate to win his club yet another piece of silverware, not the only one on offer this season.

WATARU ENDOJulian Finney/Getty Images.

Wataru Endo selfless nature is why Liverpool fans have taken an instant loving towards the midfielder.

Have joined in the same summer as Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch, the Japanese has always been a reliable asset, and this campaign, he remains this same.

Under Arne Slot, Endo has often been named on the substitute bench with the idea of throwing him on to try and see out a result, towards the latter stages.

For Sunday’s cup final, he will very likely begin on the bench unless something drastic changes between now and then, and if during he is subbed on for one of Liverpool’s three midfielders, then he will immediately know the simple role he has to play – kill the game.

Fun fact: Liverpool have never conceded a goal when Wataru Endo has been subbed on to hold a lead.

The midfielder will be determined to win the trophy in back-to-back seasons, since arriving from VfB Stuttgart in 2023.

CAOIMHIN KELLEHER

Caoimhin Kelleher can become Liverpool’s Carabao Cup Final hero, once again.

This competition has been strictly his for almost four seasons, with Alisson Becker preferred in the Premier League and Europe, so this is where the understudy has really excelled.

The goalkeeper is well accustomed to big moments at Wembley, having featured in last season’s heroics under Jurgen Klopp, whilst single-handedly helping Liverpool to the trophy on two occasions in recent years, both against Chelsea.

Kelleher made nine saves in last year’s final to keep the score at 0-0 for a large period, whilst in 2022, converted the twenty-first and winning spot-kick in the shootout, after Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, skied over.

Caoimhin Kelleher scored the winning penalty back in 2022.

Getty Images.

Liverpool were 11-10 penalty winners on penalties that day, and will forever be dedicated to the Irishman.

This time around, Kelleher is expected to be given his opportunity once more, having played in every round so far, but the semi-final first leg where Alisson was preferred.

Every footballer or aspiring footballer has dreamt of stepping out in front of a packed Wembley Stadium and becoming the hero, these Liverpool players will want to be that more than anyone this Sunday.

If Arne Slot’s players can deliver him a first trophy, then this final has the potential to go down as one of the club’s best in recent history and will instill more confidence for the final stretch of the season and those that come.

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