Jamie Carragher makes Man United referee appointment jibe ahead of Carabao Cup final v Newcastle United

Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup final with Manchester United will be refereed by David Coote on Sunday (4:30pm kick-off). The game will be the first major final of Coote’s refereeing career.

He will be assisted by Nick Hopton and Tim Wood with Simon Hooper acting as fourth official at Wembley. Peter Bankes will be on VAR duty and he will be assisted by Eddie Smart.

Coote last took charge of a Magpies game in March last year away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge - a game controversially remembered for two decisions that went against Newcastle. First, a Kai Havertz elbow on Dan Burn went unpunished before an alleged foul on Jacob Murphy by Trevoh Chalobah wasn’t given as a penalty - much to the annoyance of Isaac Hayden, who was charged and fined by the FA for a tweet he sent regarding the decisions.

Following Coote’s appointment, a ‘fake’ image showing what appeared to be David Coote’s Facebook profile with Old Trafford as a cover photo did the rounds on social media, further fuelling fan unrest at the decision.

Although Coote has previously worked in Manchester, he is understood to be a Notts County fan.

But former Liverpool defender and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher couldn’t resist making a jibe as he said: “Obviously you can’t referee the club you support.

“It must’ve been hard for them to find someone for the Carabao Cup final with Manchester United involved!”

Carragher, insinuating many people support Manchester United despite not being from city or Greater Manchester area, was then quickly told to ‘behave’ by commentator Martin Tyler.