Gosh, team looking odds on to win the Premier League fail to get overly excited about beating famously flaky Tottenham and reaching the country’s secondary cup final, whereas opponents in that final have already celebrated like they’ve won the thing already.
They might have already won it if Liverpool do indeed see this as a lesser final. Newcastle have already given Liverpool one of their sternest tests this season, a 3-3 draw. A game where Mo Salah's individual quality wasn't nearly enough to overcome Newcastle's attacking threat and sheer resilience.
Liverpool fans and players surely also saw the way the Newcastle manager's innovative match specific tactics, combined with their player's experience, toughness, sharpness, fitness and all round attacking threat, combined to make it as plain as could be that the top echelon defences of teams like Arsenal are no challenge.
Especially not when there's silverware at stake and you have the backing of a passionate support. It has all the makings of a 4-3 classic. Only this time it's easy to see how it could be Newcastle scoring four and Mo Salah only three.