This EFL Cup Finals is indeed a final because the two teams are not here to play, Newcastle United is as good as Liverpool and as the Matter of fact analyzing based on visitation to the rivals goalkeeper Newcastle has the must visit because the Liverpool defense is very tense and I have seen some mistakes that if not immediate tackled something could have happened to Liverpool. Actually if Arne Slot could win this finals and the premier League his portfolio will be remarkable because I don't think if the last coach had done this for Liverpool. Meanwhile I'm afraid of what Newcastle United can do because the title is not obvious for Liverpool.
So far Newcastle has also won by one goal over Liverpool in the match and now both are resting so Liverpool must devise a clever strategy to be able to turn things around in the second half later. Because as you said that if Liverpool still make mistakes and do not have a better attack and defense in the second half, there is a possibility that the match cannot be won by Liverpool. But if there is a sufficient improvement from Liverpool, I am sure Liverpool has the opportunity to win the EFL trophy today and that will also be a source of pride for Arne Slot.
As it stand now the score line is 2-0 against Liverpool if the match end Newcastle would have win a major trophy since 20 years ago which would a great achievement for Howes though the match is still in 65th minutes this is football anything can still happen because it is not over hopefully Liverpool can launch an incredible comeback, if Liverpool eventually lost this EPL Cup finals that means they had lost UCL and EPL Cup respectfully face with premier league to battle for this season that would a big disappointment for a club aiming to win a treble eventually remaining a single trophy.