A trophy might be the main carrot for Liverpool and Newcastle as they prepare for the Carabao Cup final in March, but there’s also a tidy sum for the winners.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot is going in search of his first trophy in English football after a second-leg demolition of Spurs saw the Anfield club make it to Wembley. For Newcastle, meanwhile, victory would mean a first major trophy in more than half a century.
Eddie Howe’s Newcastle overcame Arsenal to make the final, beating the Gunners home and away. It is the second time in three years they have got within a game of silverware, losing to Manchester United in 2023.
Victory at Wembley would give Newcastle a first major trophy since the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and a first domestic cup win since 1955. The prize money might feel like a drop in the ocean in comparison, but it’s not nothing.
The winners of this season’s Carabao Cup will secure a prize of £100,000, with the runners-up netting £50,000. The winner will also secure a spot in the Conference League if they haven’t already qualified for European football by other means.
Results in this season’s European competition mean the Premier League could be awarded a bonus European spot next term. However, the EFL has confirmed that extra spots will be awarded according to league finishes rather than cup performance, meaning there’s no chance of a Europa League upgrade for the Carabao Cup winners.
For Liverpool, eight points clear at the top of the Premier League, that European spot looks to be moot. It could benefit Newcastle, though, with Howe’s side narrowly pipped to a Conference League spot last term after finishing seventh – the spot they occupy at the time of writing.
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The Carabao Cup prize money is significantly less than the £2million awarded to the club that wins the FA Cup. Premier League prize money is even higher than that, with all 20 clubs understood to have netted more than £100m in the 2023-24 season.
Newcastle fell flat against Manchester United in the 2023 final, with goals from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford giving the Red Devils victory. Howe expects it to be a different story this time, though, and has already overseen a 3-3 draw with Slot’s Liverpool this term.
“We have come a long way since then – the Champions League does that to you, it is so testing and unique,” Howe told BBC Radio 5 Live after the semi-final victory, referencing a European campaign which included a memorable win against Paris Saint-Germain. “Naturally for the big games a lot of the players have been there before, and we are used to the quick turnarounds and work smarter.
“There is a good feeling about the squad. We are tight on numbers but big on energy. I would love to think we can go to Wembley and perform better than we did previously.”
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