Goal brings you all you need to know about this year’s edition of the Carabao Cup, where holders Man City will be aiming for their seventh title
The 2019-20 Carabao Cup first round kicked off in August, with Championship, League One and League Two sides having entered the competition.
Last season, Manchester City won their second consecutive Carabao Cup after defeating Chelsea on penalties at Wembley Stadium and will be keen to add a seventh title to their trophy cabinet.
The final is set to be played on March 1, 2020 at Wembley Stadium.
With the second round now in play, Goal has your complete guide, including participating teams, full draw information, fixture schedules and results.
Carabao Cup 2019-20 format
All 92 clubs competing in the Premier League and the English Football League enter the 2019-20 Carabao Cup, with participation distributed across the divisions.
The competition will be played over seven rounds, with single-leg ties throughout, except in the semi-finals.
In round one, the draw was split into northern and southern clubs with 22 Championship sides and all League One and League Two clubs entering.
The likes of Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Wolves and Tottenham will not enter until the third round due to their participation in Europe.
| Date | Round | Clubs entering in this round | Clubs advancing from previous round | No of games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2019 | First round (70 clubs) | 24 clubs from League Two 24 clubs from League One 22 clubs from Championship |
N/A | 35 |
| Aug 2019 | Second round (50 clubs) | 2 clubs from Championship 13 Premier League clubs (not involved in European competition) |
35 winners from first round | 25 |
| Sept 2019 | Third round (32 clubs) | 7 Premier League clubs (involved in European competition) | 25 winners from second round | 16 |
| Oct 2019 | Fourth round (16 clubs) | No entries | 16 winners from third round | 8 |
| Dec 2019 | Quarter-finals (8 clubs) | No entries | 8 winners from fourth round | 4 |
| Jan 2020 | Semi-finals (4 clubs) | No entries | 4 winners from fifth round | 2 |
| Mar 1 | Final (2 clubs) | No entries | 2 winners from semi-finals | 1 |
Carabao Cup 2019-20 second round
Thirteen Premier League clubs have now joined the Carabao Cup at the second-round stage, with an additional two clubs from the Championship to add to the first-round winners. The draw was again split into ‘northern’ and ‘southern’ sections.
Carabao Cup 2019-20 first round
Seventy clubs will participate in the first round, with 24 teams from League Two (tier four), 24 from League One (tier three), and 22 from the Championship (tier two).
The draw for this round, which took place on June 20, was divided between ‘northern’ and ‘southern’ sections. Teams were drawn against a team from the same section.
| Date | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Aug 6 | Portsmouth 3-0 Birmingham City |
| Aug 13 | Colchester United 3-0 Swindon |
| Aug 13 | AFC Wimbledon 2-2 (2-4 pens) MK Dons |
| Aug 13 | Oxford United 1-0 Peterborough United |
| Aug 13 | QPR 3-3 (5-4 pens) Bristol City |
| Aug 13 | Plymouth Argyle 2-0 Leyton Orient |
| Aug 13 | Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 (2-4 pens) Reading |
| Aug 13 | Charlton Athletic 0-0 (3-5 pens) Forest Green Rovers |
| Aug 13 | Gillingham 2-2 (1-4 pens) Newport County |
| Aug 13 | Stevenage 1-2 Southend United |
| Aug 13 | Luton Town 3-1 Ipswich Town |
| Aug 13 | Walsall 2-3 Crawley Town |
| Aug 13 | Bristol Rovers 3-0 Cheltenham Town |
| Aug 13 | Brentford 1-1 (4-5 pens) Cambridge United |
| Aug 13 | Coventry City 4-1 Exeter City |
| Aug 13 | Swansea City 3-1 Northampton Town |
| Aug 13 | West Brom 1-2 Millwall |
| Aug 13 | Tranmere Rovers 0-3 Hull City |
| Aug 13 | Grimsby Town 1-0 Doncaster Rovers |
| Aug 13 | Wigan Athletic 0-1 Stoke City |
| Aug 13 | Port Vale 1-2 Burton Albion |
| Aug 13 | Nottingham Forest 1-0 Fleetwood Town |
| Aug 13 | Bradford City 0-4 Preston North End |
| Aug 13 | Blackpool 2-2 (2-4 pens) Macclesfield Town |
| Aug 13 | Blackburn Rovers 3-2 Oldham Athletic |
| Aug 13 | Mansfield Town 2-2 (5-6 pens) Morecambe |
| Aug 13 | Accrington Stanley 1-3 Sunderland |
| Aug 13 | Scunthorpe United 0-1 Derby County |
| Aug 13 | Rochdale 5-2 Bolton Wanderers |
| Aug 13 | Huddersfield Town 0-1 Lincoln City |
| Aug 13 | Middlesbrough 2-2 (2-4 pens) Crewe Alexandra |
| Aug 13 | Shrewsbury Town 0-4 Rotherham United |
| TBD | Sheffield Wednesday A-A Bury (Sheffield Wednesday win via walkover) |
| Aug 13 | Salford City 0-3 Leeds United |
| Aug 13 | Barnsley 0-3 Carlisle United |
Carabao Cup 2019-20 on TV
In the United Kingdom, the Carabao Cup will be broadcast and live-streamed on Sky Sports, while in the United States, the competition will be shown on ESPN channels.
Carabao Cup 2019-20 rules
The English Football League (EFL) clubs voted to implement a number of changes to this year’s Carabao Cup at the annual EFL Summer Conference in Portugal, held in June 2018. Extra-time will be abandoned for all rounds except for the final, with ties advancing straight to penalty shoot-outs in the event that the scoreline is a draw at the end of regular time.
This was introduced in order to limit issues of “additional fatigue”, as Carabao Cup fixtures typically take place in the middle of the week, with Premier League matches occurring at the weekend a few days before and after.
The ABBA penalty system trial was also eliminated, with the format for penalty shoot-outs now reverting to the standard ABAB penalty-taker order.
Seeding has also been removed from the first two rounds.
Video assistant refereeing (VAR) will continue to be in use in fixtures played at Premier League grounds.
Will away goals count in the Carabao Cup semi-finals?
Following on from the abolition of extra-time, if both teams are level after the end of full-time during the second leg of either of the semi-final ties, the game will go directly to a penalty shoot-out with no away goals rule implemented – a rule which started from last season.
In previous editions of the competition, the away-goal rule was used in the semi-final stage in the same manner as it is in the Champions League knockout rounds. If, for instance, the away team scored a goal in the first leg that ended in a 1-1 draw, with the second leg ending 0-0, then that team would have progressed to the final courtesy of the away-goals rule.
Now, though, no such rule will be considered and second-leg stalemates will be decided ultimately by a penalty shoot-out.
As regulation 14.5 of the tournament explains: “In the semi-final ties, if the aggregate score is level at the end of the second game no extra time shall be played and the tie shall be decided by the taking of kicks from the penalty mark in accordance with procedures as approved by IFAB.”
Why is the League Cup called the Carabao Cup?
Up until 2016, the tournament was named the English Football League Cup (EFL Cup) instead of the League Cup, following the rebranding of the Football League to the English Football League.
Officially, the EFL Cup is known as the Carabao Cup due to the energy drink being the tournament’s official sponsors.
Prior to Carabao’s sponsorship of the tournament starting from 2017, the competition was called the EFL Cup (2016-17), the Capital One Cup (2012-13 to 2015-16), the Carling Cup (sponsored by Molson Coors from 2003-04 to 2011-12), the Worthington Cup (sponsored by Worthington’s from 1998-99 to 2002-03), and the Coca-Cola Cup (from 1992-93 to 1997-98).
Carabao & League Cup past winners
Liverpool are the club to have won the Carabao Cup the most times, winning their eighth title in 2012 when they defeated Cardiff City on penalties. They have been runners-up in the competition four times, with their last final appearance that they didn’t win coming in 2016 when they were defeated by Manchester City in a shootout.
Man City lifted their sixth Carabao Cup in 2019 when they beat Chelsea on penalties, while Manchester United, Aston Villa and Chelsea have all won the Carabao Cup five times each.
Tottenham and Nottingham Forest have both won the competition four times each, with the win in 2008 being the last time the north London side last lifted a piece of silverware.
Only lists teams who have won the competition the most times.
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