Who is the answer to Newcastle’s goalkeeping dilemma ahead of the Carabao Cup final?
After Nick Pope’s nightmare red card last week against Liverpool, Newcastle will need to field a different goalkeeper in the Carabao Cup final this weekend.
Martin Dubravka is also ineligible due to playing in this competition with Manchester United during his loan spell in the first half of the season.
Eddie Howe now has a huge decision to make regarding the goalkeeping situation, confirming after the Liverpool game that he has options to choose from.
Loris Karius
The German goalkeeper joined Newcastle in September last year and is yet to make a competitive appearance for the Magpies. Karius will be best remembered for his poor performance in the 2018 Champions League final, but his good work previously is often forgotten about.
The 29-year-old shot-stopper made 29 Premier League appearances for Liverpool across two seasons between 2016 and 2018 and kept 13 clean sheets during that time.
Karius last played a competitive match in February 2021, playing for Union Berlin’s 1-1 draw against Hoffenheim, and now looks set to make his first competitive appearance in two years on Sunday.
Mark Gillespie
The Geordie goalkeeper re-joined the Magpies in July 2020 after leaving 12 years earlier when he was 16 years old.
The now 30-year-old played over 150 times for Carlisle United between 2010 and 2017. Gillespie also went on to play for Walsall and Motherwell before joining Newcastle again.
The three appearances he has made for Newcastle all came in 2020, with the last one coming in September 2020 against Newport, in the Carabao Cup, where he saved a penalty in the shootout, seeing Newcastle through the fourth round, but playing in a final two and a half years later would be a huge step up.
