Lineker hits out at Nick Pope now being suspended for Carabao Cup final

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Gary Lineker has hit out at the rules which mean that Nick Pope will be suspended for the Carabao Cup final after his red card during Newcastle United’s loss to Liverpool on Saturday, telling Match of the Day that it is not fair that the goalkeeper will miss out.

The Magpies have been dealt a massive blow ahead of next weekend’s Wembley showdown with Manchester United. They were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool yesterday. And they will face Erik ten Hag’s men without one of their most important players.

Pope was shown a straight red card after handling the ball outside of his area as Mo Salah ran through. It was a moment of madness from the Newcastle stopper. He initially stooped to head the ball and went to grab it with his hands after getting in a right mess.

Lineker reacts to Nick Pope being suspended for the Carabao Cup final

Had he had more time to think, you would imagine that he would rather risk letting Salah score than take the red card. By that stage, Newcastle’s situation already looked bleak. And that decision killed any realistic hope of the Magpies turning the match around.

Newcastle can surely have few complaints about the decision. But what does seem cruel is that Pope will now miss the Carabao Cup final. Remarkably, that may well mean that Loris Karius makes his Newcastle debut in the game.

However, Lineker does not believe that that should be the case. Instead, he does not understand why he cannot miss their next Premier League game.

“The one thing I will say though, he’s getting a one-game ban, it’s in a competition that’s different. He’s going to miss the cup final now. That seems improportionate,” he told Match of the Day.

“Wasn’t Joelinton on nine yellows? If he’d have got another yellow, he would have missed two games, but not the Carabao Cup final. That’s an anomaly. Why is that? Come on, let him play in the cup final. He’s been brilliant this season.”

You can only presume that the rule is designed to potentially punish those who do something malicious like a nasty challenge. In those situations, a player can have few complaints if they see their cup final ticket snatched away from them.

Pope’s actions were certainly bizarre. But it does seem harsh to force him to miss the final. That only increases the likelihood of players not quite giving everything in the league games before a final through fear of getting suspended.