TalkSPORT host Jamie O'Hara has claimed that Newcastle United goalkeeper Loris Karius will struggle to not remember his Champions League final performance when he takes to the pitch at Wembley this weekend.
The 29-year-old is set to replace the suspended Nick Pope for Sunday's Carabao Cup final against Manchester United after the England international was sent off in the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool for handling the ball outside of his penalty area.
It means that the German goalkeeper will be getting his first start for the Magpies because Newcastle's backup Martin Dubravka is cup-tied having appeared for Man United earlier in the competition while out on loan.
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O'Hara isn't confident though that Karius will have a clear mindset ahead of the final, as he claims the German is likely still haunted by his torrid time in goal for Liverpool in their 3-1 loss against Real Madrid in the Champions League final in 2018.
"I think Man United win this one now. I just look at it now and think, Loris Karius in goal, he hasn’t played, he’s Newcastle’s third choice!" he told Grosvenor Sport.
"The pressure is going to be on him big time. I hope he does have a good game, I really do, because that Champions League final wrecked his confidence for a long time.
"Hopefully, he has a good game, but I just can’t see Newcastle getting past Manchester United; United are in great form at the minute, and Newcastle are stuttering. It’s a bad time to have a final for them. Now the tie goes in Man United’s favour just on the fact Newcastle have a third-choice goalkeeper and they’re in great form.
"I missed a penalty in the League Cup final against Man United and played in a final a year after and was still thinking about the miss. It’s impossible to get it out of your mind. You learn to deal with it and get on with it, but it will have knocked his confidence.
"Hopefully, he has learned from it. If he is a good keeper, he will be thinking about it but thinking about it in a positive light – don’t make that mistake again, don’t do anything stupid, and keep it simple. It might actually hold him in good stead, we’ll see."
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