LONDON: Holders Liverpool are back at Wembley for a League Cup final against Newcastle after a 4-0 rout, and 4-1 aggregate victory, over a toothless Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield.

The runaway favourites took the lead, to overturn a 1-0 first leg deficit against the injury-depleted visitors, when Cody Gakpo fired in a right-foot shot in the 34th minute from a Mohamed Salah cross.

Salah added his name to the scoresheet, shooting high into the net from the penalty spot in the 51st minute after Spurs goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky downed Darwin Nunez, Dominik Szoboszlai slotted home the third and Virgil van Dijk completed the rout with a header.

Newcastle saw off Tottenham’s north London rivals Arsenal 2-0, and 4-0 on aggregate, on Wednesday to secure their second final in three years on March 16.

The final will be Liverpool’s 15th in the League Cup but a first in English football for Liverpool’s Dutch manager Arne Slot, who replaced Juergen Klopp at the end of last season.

It also kept record 10-times League Cup winners Liverpool on course for a four-trophy haul this season.

They are six points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League, with a game in hand, led the table into the last 16 of the Champions League and are still in the FA Cup.

Defeat was a bitter pill for Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, who has highlighted his record of winning something in his second season at a club but now has only the Europa League and FA Cup to aim for.

Striker Richarlison added to his injury concerns when he went off injured in first-half stoppage time, handing a club debut to new signing Mathys Tel. That proved a baptism of fire for the Bayern Munich loanee, with Tottenham failing to muster a single shot on target.

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