Gary Lineker has called for Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope’s suspension from the Carabao Cup final against Manchester United to be changed, believing there is an "anomaly" within the laws of the domestic game.
Bans for red cards in domestic fixtures carry across all Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup competitions, meaning Pope’s one-match ban for his dismissal against Liverpool on Saturday applies for Sunday’s trip to Wembley.
The England shot-stopper was given his marching orders for handling outside of the area when trying to stop a Mohamed Salah breakaway, giving Eddie Howe a selection headache for next week.
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Martin Dubravka was brought on upon Pope’s exit but cannot feature in the final due to being cup-tied after playing in earlier rounds for United while on loan during the first half of the season.
And with Karl Darlow out on loan at Hull, it leaves reserve options Loris Karius and Mark Gillespie to choose from. Karius has not played a competitive first-team game in any capacity since February 2021 and Gillespie’s last senior outing came in September 2020.
Pope will be suspended for one game, as opposed to the three Casemiro got for violent conduct, meaning he will return for Newcastle’s next Premier League game against Manchester City.
But Lineker believes the ruling which forces to miss the cup final is harsh given it is a different competition. He also outlined how Joelinton would have been suspended for two matches if he had picked up a 10th yellow card of the card although none of these would have applied for the Wembley trip.
Speaking on Match of the Day, Lineker said: "The one thing I will say though is he's getting a one-game ban, it's in a competition that's different. He's going to miss the cup final now, that seems disproportionate and wasn't Joelinton on nine yellows?
“If he'd got another, he would have missed two games but not the Carabao Cup final. That's an anomaly, why is that? Come on, let him play in the cup final! He's been brilliant this season.”
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