Newcastle facing Carabao Cup crisis as Manchester United takeover takes fresh twist

Here are your Manchester United morning headlines on Sunday, February 19.

Pope red card hands Newcastle a Carabao Cup final goalkeeper crisis

Newcastle will be without Nick Pope for next Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester United after the goalkeeper was sent off against Liverpool on Saturday evening.

Referee Anthony Taylor brandished the red card at the England shot-stopper for handling outside of the area when trying to stop a Mo Salah breakaway on 22 minutes with his side 2-0 down. Pope has kept the most Premier League clean sheets this season with 12 to his name, three more than joint-second-placed David de Gea.

READ MORE: Who has submitted a United takeover bid?

Newcastle have been handed a further headache with back-up Martin Dubravka unavailable for the final after featuring in the earlier rounds of the competition for United while on loan during the first half of the season.

And with Karl Darlow out on loan at Hull City, it means former Liverpool shot-stopper Loris Karius is in line to start the final. His last game for the Reds was his ill-fated 2018 Champions League final appearance. Alternatively, Mark Gillespie could be given the nod having not played since his three League Cup games in 2020.

Read more about Newcastle's goalkeeper crisis, here

American hedge fund giant 'enters' Manchester United takeover race

US hedge fund firm Elliott Investment Management has reportedly become the latest party to enter the Manchester United takeover race.

The business is said to manage assets of around £46bn and is headed by Paul Elliot Singer. The Raine Group had set a soft deadline of 10pm on Friday for potential bidders to submit their initial proposals.

The details of the interest put forward by