Liverpool will be seeking to retain the League Cup when they take on Newcastle United in today's final at Wembley - but Kopite supporters could end up repeating their booing of the national anthem like they did ahead of last year's triumph.
Arne Slot's side are the runaway leaders of the Premier League and the Anfield outfit look all but certain to win the league title after opening a 15 point lead over second placed Arsenal.
However, hopes of a Treble or even the Quadruple have been dashed in recent months after being dumped out of the FA Cup at the third round stage by Championship side Plymouth Argyle in January.
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And Liverpool exited the Champions League in midweek at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain following a defeat on penalties after a 1-1 draw on aggregate in the last 16 phase.
However, the Anfield outfit will be aiming to pick up their first silverware under new boss Slot, who replaced Jurgen Klopp last summer in the dugout.
Liverpool beat Chelsea 1-0 in last season's League Cup final thanks to Virgil van Dijk's extra-time winner, and the Reds will be seeking to retain the trophy when they take on Eddie Howe's Magpies at Wembley, who themselves have not won a major trophy in some 70 years.
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Ahead of last year's final against Chelsea, Liverpool fans were heard booing the national anthem during the pre-match traditions of God Save the King being sung as both sets of players and managers lined up on the pitch.
It is not the first time this has happened, though, and there is the potential Liverpool fans could repeat their booing of the national anthem before this afternoon's showpiece at Wembley.
It appears that the reason for this is not any disdain towards the Royal Family, but more an indication of broader socialism and a critique of the establishment which stems from Conservative government's mismanagement of the city in the 1980s and the failings for the Hillsborough disaster, where 97 Liverpool fans died, at the end of the decade.
Journalists from The Athletic have previously explained this stance and Caoimhe O’Neill has made it clear that the booing is not directed against the monarch but the establishment.
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She said: "It’s something Liverpool fans have done for such a long time. It’s always been an anti-establishment protest. Something that is deep-rooted in the city, the socialism of the city and for those who died at Hillsborough.
“It feels like a movement and a protest and one that’s not always maybe respected — people just jump on it as something that would upset the king or something. It was the same with Prince William at Wembley last season (in 2022), when Liverpool fans booed the anthem while he was there. It’s not necessarily about him or the royal family necessarily.
“That’s the important point to make: it’s about the establishment as a whole, this conglomerate of things that Liverpool fans disagree with.”
James Pearce of The Athletic also provided his take, explaining that people in Liverpool simply cannot relate to the establishment after being 'treated so badly'.
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He commented: “It all ties in as well to the patriotism that most people from the city don’t associate with.
"You see it when major tournaments come around with the England football team as well, it all feeds into the same thing. That’s not their identity. That’s not who they are.
"There’s a feeling that those people don’t represent them. It’s just a world away from some guy having a crown put on his head in London. What relevance has that got to the lives of people in this city? Especially people who have been treated so badly by the establishment for so long."
Topics: Liverpool, Newcastle United, Carabao Cup
John McDougall