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Loris Karius, whose Newcastle United side take on Manchester United in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final, once admitted he was “not scared” of the Old Trafford club.
United enter the Carabao Cup final fresh from having defeated European giants Barcelona over two legs to qualify for the Europa League last-16. The Reds now turn their attention to Eddie Howe's impressive Newcastle side, in hope of wining their first silverware of any kind since 2017.
Meanwhile The Magpies will be aiming to win their first major domestic trophy in almost 68 years.
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Indeed, United have claimed 40 major trophies since Newcastle's last major domestic silverware.
And with Newcastle keeper Nick Pope suspended and his understudy Martin Dubravka cup-tied, third-choice Karius is likely to start between the sticks for Howe’s side.
Karius is “not scared” of Man Utd
The much-maligned Karius will be making his Newcastle debut if he features on Sunday, while it will be his first senior appearance of any kind since February 2021, when he was on loan at Union Berlin.
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Indeed, the German’s last appearance for an English side was in Liverpool’s 3-1 Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid in 2018, where he was guilty of two sensational errors for the Reds. The disastrous performance spelt the end of his Liverpool career.
However, while at Liverpool, Karius once insisted he was “not scared” to take United.
Speaking to Premier League Productions in 2018, the shot-stopper said: "I think it will be a close game. Man Utd has a good, strong team but we have a great team and we play at home.
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“We have respect for them but we're not scared of them and we know we want to win the game.
"We'll have a good plan - or more than one plan - so we will be well prepared.”
Karius has only ever made two appearances against United, yet he failed to taste victory in either outing.
Karius first appeared against United back in the 2016/17 campaign, where he helped Liverpool record a 0-0 draw. However, the glovesman then appeared in a 2-1 defeat against the Premier League giants the subsequent season.
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In that game, Karius conceded two goals to Marcus Rashford within 24 minutes.
Eddie Howe on Karius
The Newcastle boss urged Karius to re-write history in Sunday’s Carabao Cup encounter against United.
Howe said: “It would be a magnificent chance for him to rewrite the story of his career.
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“There have been loads of stories through the times in football where these things have happened and there’s been a really positive outcome … or not. We can’t predict what that will be.
“But as soon as it happened [Pope’s red card] there was that feeling there’s another story in Karius’s career – another page or chapter to write – and who knows what that chapter will look like.
“That’s the beauty of football. This unpredictability is what makes it such an amazing thing to watch.”
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Football, Loris Karius, Newcastle United, Manchester United, Liverpool