By the early hours of Wednesday morning, Arne Slot was already thinking about ways to subtly recondition Liverpool’s focus. He wanted to make sure the players seamlessly went from the disappointment of Wednesday in the Champions League to seizing the opportunity of Sunday in the Carabao Cup final.
There were no such necessities for Newcastle United. They’ve been gearing up to this for weeks, because they’ve been waiting for such an opportunity for years. The disappointment of the 2023 final defeat to Manchester United only sharpens that anticipation. Bruno Guimaraes even made the surprising admission that Sunday’s appointment at Wembley had been “a little bit” of a distraction.
