Newcastle United now know who they must beat if they are to lift their first trophy in 56 years. Liverpool await the Magpies in the final of the Carabao Cup on March 16.

Arne Slot's side swept past Tottenham Hotspur with ease, winning 4-0 at Anfield on Thursday night to overcome a 1-0 first leg deficit. Goals from Cody Gapko, Mo Sala, Dominik Szoboszlai and Virgil van Dijk cancelled out Lucas Bergvall's strike from the first leg.

Liverpool were immediately installed as 2/5 favourites to lift the trophy at Wembley next month. Top of the Premier League, rampaging through Europe and now eyeing an 11th League Cup, only Eddie Howe's men stand in their way. Not that the national and UK media are giving Newcastle too much of a hope. Here we round up some of the views.

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David Hytner, writing in The Guardian, said: "Who can stop Liverpool this season? It is the question on everybody’s lips as they look down from the summit of the Premier League and eye glory in the Champions League and FA Cup, too. Nobody believed Spurs would do so here, probably not the diehards who made the trip north and possibly not even the players themselves – certainly not once the reality of what they were facing dawned on them.

"It was over, really, when Mohamed Salah scored from the penalty spot early in the second half to give them the aggregate lead – his 26th goal of the season. At that point, Spurs were just about still in it but by now absolutely nobody believed they were. The evidence had been mapped out in graphic detail across the Anfield turf where Liverpool were quicker, sharper, hungrier. Simply remorseless.

"Spurs could point to a single flicker in front of goal, the moment on 78 minutes when Son Heung-min pulled off a step-over and blasted against the bar from a tight angle. They had just five shots in total; the rest were eminently forgettable. None was on target.

"By then it was 3-0, Dominik Szoboszlai having added further to Cody Gakpo’s first-half opener, and there would still be time for the imperious Virgil van Dijk to add the fourth. It will be up to Newcastle to deny Liverpool in the final. Slot’s team will start as the heavy favourites."

The Telegraph's Chris Bascombe hailed Arne Slot's achievements (as well as Eddie Howe's set-up) after taking over from Jurgen Klopp in the summer, and believes whichever manager wins the final will have 'lift off' for their clubs and careers.

He wrote: "Liverpool have won this competition a record 10 times and made the final on five other occasions. Klopp almost won it a few months into his reign, beaten on penalties by Manchester City in 2016. He would wait a further three years before winning silverware, the scale of the rebuilding work much greater than that required by Slot. The Dutchman is the first to recognise that as he tries to go a step further than Klopp in his first year.

"What is clearer every week is the ceiling of the team he inherited may be higher than many imagine.

Now Slot’s coveted first Wembley trip beckons. If he can complete the job against a dangerous and exciting Newcastle United, he knows it can be the lift-off for another era which is promising more with every emphatic performance and victory. Eddie Howe will feel likewise at St James’ Park, of course.

"Whoever is victorious. Wembley’s winning coach is entitled to declare it the ‘first of many’ when they lift the Carabao Cup."

On Merseyside, The Liverpool Echo's Paul Gorst referenced the 'meek surrender' that saw Newcastle lose 2-0 against Man United in the final two years ago. And he wonders how the weight of history will sit on the players' shoulders.

"And so now the stage is set for Wembley: Newcastle United versus Liverpool on March 16; the club aiming to end a 70-year wait for a trophy against the one trying to secure its second in less than 13 months. It promises to be an incredible spectacle when two of the most fiercely passionate fan bases in the country meet next month. Neutrals will be in short supply.

"The Reds will head into that game looking to retain the competition and extend their League Cup triumphs to 11 while, for the Magpies, it is a shot at redemption for the meek way they surrendered against Manchester United at the same stage two years ago.

"How much the weight of silverless history will weigh on Eddie Howe and his players will only be known on the day itself, but for Slot, it presents an opportunity for tangible success and more proof - if it was needed - that his Liverpool project is heading firmly in the right direction."