Newcastle United 2 Liverpool 1: EFL Cup final tactical analysis

Newcastle United ended their 56-year trophy drought with a thoroughly deserved victory against Liverpool in this 2025 EFL Cup final. Eddie Howe’s team played an almost tactically flawless game to claim a historic piece of silverware in front of their ecstatic supporters at Wembley Stadium. For Liverpool, it was one of their most ineffective displays of a season that still holds the promise of sealing – and celebrating – a first Premier League title in front of their fans since 1990.

But this was Newcastle’s day. It was perhaps fitting that Dan Burn – a boyhood Newcastle fan released by the club at the age of 11, who signed from Brighton at the age of 30 – opened the scoring. His towering header from a corner gave Newcastle a timely boost, just before half-time. It was no less than their dominant display had deserved, and they came close to scoring again shortly after the break, when Alexander Isak’s finish was ruled out for a previous offside. Liverpool’s reprieve was short-lived, however, with Isak adding the second moments later.

When Federico Chiesa scored for Liverpool in added time, Newcastle fans could have been forgiven for fearing the worst. Instead, they watched their team see out the remaining minutes in professional fashion to win their first major domestic trophy in 70 years. As for Eddie Howe, he became the first English head coach/manager to win a major trophy in English football since Harry Redknapp led Portsmouth to the FA Cup in 2008. Howe had been Redknapp’s first signing for Portsmouth, in 2002, and has now succeeded his old manager as a Wembey winner.

Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches have highlighted the tactics Howe’s team employed with such success, and how Arne Slot and his Liverpool team tried and failed to turn the game round.

How the managers saw it

“We worked consistently for two weeks on set-plays just for this game and if you had seen us in practice you would have said we had no chance,” said Howe. “We couldn’t believe Dan Burn scored - he didn’t train like that! He was a colossus for us.”

“This game went exactly the way they [Newcastle] wanted it to be,” said Arne Slot. “A fight with a lot of duels and a lot of duels through the air… they deserved to win, but it wasn’t like we were only running after them. We had to defend a lot of long balls [and] second balls, and that’s their strength.”

Newcastle’s wide press

From their 4-3-3 shape, Newcastle pressed Liverpool’s build very aggressively. This included left-winger Harvey Barnes moving inside to support Isak in pressing Liverpool’s two central defenders. From there, Tino Livramento jumped on to any pass to Jarell Quansah, cutting off as much access as possible into the feet of Mohamed Salah. At the same time, Newcastle’s midfield three aggressively marked the closest two central options available to Quansah, locking Liverpool into their own half (below). Newcastle’s overall duelling high up the pitch was superb, almost totally nullifying Liverpool’s build throughout the first half. 

Newcastle’s high press sometimes had Barnes and left-back Livramento starting higher with their defensive roles and going player for player. When this happened, Isak locked play to this side, curving his press towards Liverpool’s goalkeeper and covering any passes back across to Virgil van Dijk. Unable to build through or around Newcastle’s high press, Liverpool then began to play rather aimless long balls (below) into their front line, which Burn and Fabian Schär dominated.

Newcastle couldn’t press high all the time, so they dropped back for brief periods when they needed a defensive rest. When this happened, their wingers, Jacob Murphy and Barnes, took up deeper defensive positions in a 4-5-1 block. This helped Newcastle to track any advances from Liverpool’s full-backs, or deal with any wide rotations. With Murphy and Barnes often working back, Newcastle’s back four could stay narrower for longer, remaining compact across the edge of their penalty area (below). As such, they made it difficult for Liverpool’s wrong-footed wingers, Luis Díaz and Salah, to drive or run inside. In doing so, Newcastle’s deeper block, combined with their high pressing, limited Liverpool to just one attempt on goal in the first half. 

Subsequent wide play

By defending the wide areas so well, Newcastle were in ideal positions to attack these areas of the pitch. They regained possession in high, dangerous areas, particularly working attacks on their left. During deeper passages of attacking play, Newcastle efficiently worked the ball around Liverpool’s 4-2-3-1, with number eights Joelinton and Bruno Guimarães widening significantly. There, they could receive between their full-back and winger, before connecting with Murphy or Barnes, who looked to exploit in behind (below). In doing so, Newcastle’s eights also dragged Liverpool’s double pivot well away from the centre, making it easier for Eddie Howe’s team to duel and regain around the second phase.

Newcastle’s best moments came when their wide combinations worked to deliver crosses that threatened the Liverpool goal. Even when deliveries were blocked by Liverpool, Newcastle won their fair share of corners, one of which culminated in their first goal. These simple but effective wide combinations continued in the second half, with Barnes and Livramento combining to create crosses (below).

Despite Livramento being right-footed, the pair still worked regular attacks on the left. This meant that Liverpool were forced to commit one of their double pivot, and on occasion the closest centre-back, Ibrahima Konaté, as extra defensive cover. This gave Newcastle space for runs from central midfield, but also allowed Isak and the opposite winger Murphy to attack the penalty area against depleted Liverpool defensive numbers. Isak duly grabbed a deserved second when Murphy headed the ball back across goal.

Slot’s changes

In response to Newcastle’s second goal – and with Liverpool still struggling to progress the ball forward with quality – in the 57th minute Slot withdrew Konaté for Curtis Jones. As a result, Ryan Gravenberch moved to central defence alongside Van Dijk, while Darwin Núñez was brought on to replace Diogo Jota up front. Ten minutes later Slot added Cody Gakpo to the front line, taking off Alexis Mac Allister. Newcastle then began to defend deeper, with Liverpool pushing their full-backs higher – Andy Robertson especially moved forward, just inside of Gakpo. Díaz, meanwhile, took up an attacking-midfield role between the lines, alongside Dominik Szoboszlai (below), as Liverpool desperately searched for a way back into the game.

Aside from a Jones shot that was saved by Nick Pope, these changes did not lead to much in the way of an improvement from Liverpool. So on 74 minutes Slot added Chiesa (for Gravenberch) and Harvey Elliott (for Díaz). Chiesa operated around Gakpo on the left, with Elliott supporting Salah on the right. With Liverpool placing so many attacking players high up the pitch, Newcastle’s back line compacted further, sometimes defending with both wingers and some of their central midfielders alongside the original back line. Newcastle’s remaining midfielders and Isak – later replaced by Callum Wilson – then formed a narrow unit on the edge of the box to limit Liverpool’s probing passes into the penalty area (below).

Although Chiesa did pull a goal back late on, punishing Newcastle when they tried to expand after a regain, Newcastle defended their penalty area heroically. They ran the clock down cleverly to seal a long-awaited – and much deserved – triumph. 

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