'We have to be ready': Virgil Van Dijk is already planning for facing Alexander Isak at Wembley

Liverpool battered Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Thursday night to book their place in the Carabao Cup final where they will face Newcastle United.

Newcastle fans watched on with interest last night hoping that Spurs could add to their one-goal advantage and book their spot in the final rather than the Reds, against whom Newcastle have a frankly disgusting recent record.

Unfortunately, Spurs forgot to disembark the team bus and let Liverpool run rampant. The game finished 4-0 and Newcastle now have to overcome their biggest bogey team to lift the cup next month.

It's not that we play poorly against Liverpool, just things never seem to go our way, so all thing being equal (thanks, Ange), we can give them a good run for their money.

Virgil Van Dijk is aware of the problems Newcastle can cause

Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk knows that it won't be straightforward for them either. Speaking to CBS Sports, he said there are plenty of dangers they need to be aware of, none more so than "red hot" Alexander Isak.

“They are very, very strong in the midfield with the power in terms of physicality.

“And their manager is a great manager and obviously for them to be twice now in the final in the last three years is obviously a big credit to how they set up and the work they do.

“And obviously they have a striker that’s in red hot form at the moment.

“So, when the time is there, we have to be ready.”

Newcastle and Liverpool will have a warm-up at Anfield this month

The two sides will meet in the Premier League before the final, too, so that will be a good opportunity to size each other up before the big day.

It would be nice to end the Liverpool curse in the league before the Wembley trip just to get that monkey off our back, but doing it at Wembley would be the ultimate way to do it.

We know we can beat them, we're sure we can, so let's just bloody do it.