Newcastle United have reached their second League Cup final in three years following their 4-0 aggregate win over Arsenal in the semi-finals.
Eddie Howe will be hoping the outcome is different this time compared to the 2023 final, which saw the Magpies lose 2-0 to Manchester United at Wembley.
In the final, they will face Arne Slot’s Liverpool juggernaut, which doesn’t appear to be slowing down for anyone, and it will prove to be a difficult task to end their 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy.
Howe will take solace in the fact that his side drew 3-3 with the Anfield outfit back in December as Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon scored during the Premier League clash.
Isak, in particular, has been in wonderful form over the previous few months, and if the Toon are to claim the trophy in March, Isak will have to be at his very best.
Alexander Isak’s stats this season
Isak scored 25 goals throughout the 2023/24 season, although it wasn’t enough to lift the club back into the top four of the Premier League table.
They missed out on Champions League qualification, but given how impressive the Swedish striker has been so far this term, Howe’s men could be in for a swift return to Europe’s premier club competition.
In 27 games for the Magpies this term, Isak has scored 19 goals – well on course to break through the 25-goal barrier. He also has recorded five assists, proving he is more than capable of creating chances for his teammates.
Towards the end of last season, Alan Shearer, who knows a thing or two about scoring for the club, waxed lyrical about the Swede, saying: “He is just a constant threat all the time. His finishing is excellent and his penalty-taking is as good as they come.
“He is confident and cool and believes in everything he is doing.
“We know that once he gets away over the top, he is going to cause you an absolute nightmare. His ability to link up and his understanding [is brilliant].”
He has been even better during the current campaign. When compared to his positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues, Isak currently ranks in the top 3% for non-penalty goals (0.75), the top 10% for shot-creating actions (3.48) and in the top 7% for successful take-ons (1.63) per 90, indicating how good he is compared to others on the continent.
The longer Howe is able to hold onto the former Borussia Dortmund striker, the better chance Newcastle will have of ending their trophy drought and returning to play in the Champions League.
The St James’ Park side has seen some wonderful strikers grace the pitch over the years. From Jackie Milburn to Shearer, Andy Cole to Isak.
Back in 2018, the club sold a player to a current Premier League rival, and he has since embarked on an impressive career – one that has culminated in him scoring more goals than Isak for his current club this term…
Why Newcastle sold Aleksandar Mitrovic
Aleksandar Mitrovic signed for the Toon in the summer of 2015, but his nine Premier League goals were powerless as the club were relegated from the top flight.
He netted just four times in the Championship the following season, failing to showcase the potential that saw him shine on occasion the year prior.
Mitrovic spent the second half of the 2017/18 season on loan at Fulham, leading them back into the top flight after four years away, signing for the Cottagers that summer for a fee in the region of £22m.
The Serbian failed to perform on a consistent basis for the Magpies, but since leaving, his goalscoring abilities have been on full show.
Aleksandar Mitrovic is outscoring Isak this season
The 30-year-old enjoyed a productive spell in west London with Fulham. Across 206 games in all competitions, Mitrovic scored an impressive tally of 111 goals, chipping in with 21 assists. This works out as a goal contribution every 1.5 matches.
Season
Games
Goals
2023/24
44
40
2022/23
28
15
2021/22
46
43
2020/21
31
4
2019/20
41
26
2018/19
39
11
2017/18
27
14
2016/17
29
6
2015/16
36
9
2014/15
51
28
2013/14
45
19
2012/13
36
15
Marco Silva heaped praise on the centre-forward after Fulham enjoyed a great start to the 2022/23 season, saying: “The numbers of Mitrovic are unbelievable, they are outstanding. Since I arrived in this football club, in 57 games, he scored 52 goals. It is an unbelievable number for a striker.”
Despite netting 14 goals that term, he was surprisingly sold to Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Hilal in the summer of 2023 in what Fulham said was a club-record transfer fee.
His antics in front of goal certainly haven’t slowed down since making the move to the Middle East. If anything, they have improved. 60 goals in just 67 matches for the club is a sensational record.
The 2024/25 season has seen the former Newcastle striker score 20 goals in 24 matches for Al-Hilal, which is currently one more goal than Isak’s tally.
In the Saudi Pro League, Mitrovic scores a goal every 98 minutes, while he has registered 3.7 shots per game, has a 25% conversion rate and succeeds with 50% of his dribble attempts domestically.
Of course, the league isn’t as strong as the English top flight, but these numbers prove that the Serbia international still has what it takes to be a reliable threat in front of goal for any club.
Did Rafael Benitez sell Mitrovic too hastily? Perhaps, but receiving a fee upwards of £20m was always going to be difficult to turn down for a relegated club, especially considering his record for the Magpies wasn’t exactly great.
However, the previous seven years have shown that all he needed was regular game time and some trust in him to demonstrate his true potential.
Howe will be hoping that Isak can continue his recent form. If so, the Magpies have a genuine chance of winning their first trophy since the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
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