Eddie Howe has been urged by Danny Murphy to avoid a ‘nonsensical’ decision over Loris Karius, believing he should start over Mark Gillespie.
Newcastle have been left with a goalkeeping crisis after Nick Pope was sent off against Liverpool last week.
Backup Martin Dubravka is ineligible to play against Manchester United today, meaning the attention turns to Karius.
The former Liverpool stopper is in line to start for Newcastle as they battle United in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
Karius hasn’t played for an English club since his calamitous display for Liverpool against Real Madrid in the 2018 Champions League final.
The German has struggled to recover since that night and yet five years on but now has a golden chance at redemption.
Pundit Danny Murphy has now told the Daily Mail that he thinks not picking Karius would be ‘nonsensical’.
Murphy believes that Karius is by far the better option than Mark Gillespie for Newcastle today and the Magpies have to trust him despite that 2018 nightmare.
“I’d probably select Karius ahead of Gillespie because he has played at a higher level throughout his career. It would be nonsensical to suddenly turn round and say: “We can’t play Karius because he performed badly in a high-profile match in 2018,” said Murphy.
Loris Karius v Mark Gillespie for Newcastle
Karius appears to be the favourite to start but Gillespie isn’t exactly a nobody.
The 30-year-old was born in Newcastle and started his career in the Magpies ranks before leaving way back in 2008.
Gillespie has racked up nearly 300 career appearance, turning out for Carlisle United, Blyth Spartans, Walsall and Motherwell.
Gillespie completed a 2020 move back to his boyhood club but has only made three appearances for the Magpies – and none have come in the Premier League.
Karius is likely to start but we can imagine that Howe would also have been comfortable playing Gillespie if it came to it.
This situation isn’t a complete disaster for Newcastle and they will have a great chance of winning the Carabao Cup this afternoon.
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