Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has explained that Kieran Tripper's arms were "out for balance" after the ball struck his arm in the Newcastle box - before VAR ruled that no penalty would be awarded to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final.

Reds forward Luis Diaz had been jostling for the ball with Magpies defender Trippier, when the ball hit the Toon full-back, leading to a check for a potential spot kick.

Ex-Old Trafford stalwart Neville admitted that the ball had struck Trippier in the hand.

However, he did not feel that the former Atletico Madrid defender had intentionally handled the ball, asserting: "It definitely hit Trippier's hand, we can see that from up here.

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Coming into the showpiece, Trippier appeared confident that the Toon could pull off an upset in the final as they returned to Wembley Stadium for a first time in two years.

In the 2023 edition of the Carabao Cup final, the Magpies slumped to a 2-0 loss against Manchester United.

Speaking about a change to their preparations heading into the 2025 final, He said: "Staying at the Hilton was too close, shall we say," as he looked back over where the Toon went wrong the last time out at Wembley.

I'm not saying it was bad last time but we're more prepared because we've been in this position now

"We played United in the last cup final and we're more relaxed
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