Sometimes viewed as the least important major trophy in England, the EFL Cup is still silverware, and for the vast majority of teams in the English football pyramid, an important piece at that.
Increasingly, coaches such as Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have guided their respective teams to success in the competition, which has helped to increase the trophy's stock among fans once more.
With that in mind, here is everything you need to about the EFL Cup draw for 2024/25, including fixtures and the format of the competition.
Format changes to the 2024/25 Carabao Cup
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As a result of the increased number of games teams in UEFA club competitions will have to play this season, such as in the expanded Champions League for example, the format of the Carabao Cup has been altered to accommodate those changes.
The most notable of these changes is the fact that teams playing European football will be kept apart in Round Three of the EFL Cup in order to avoid fixtures clashing with the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League ties.
In addition to that, Round Three fixtures will also now be split over two separate weeks to ease fixture congestion on clubs playing European football. In essence, the Carabao Cup has been changed to cater more closely to the needs of Premier League teams.
2024/25 EFL Cup key dates
The key dates of each round of the 2024/25 EFL Cup, from the first round up until the final, are as follows:
- First Round – Week commencing August 12
- Second Round – Week Commencing August 26
- Third Round – Week commencing September 16 and September 23
- Fourth Round – Week commencing October 28
- Quarter-finals – Week commencing December 16
- Semi-finals – Week commencing January 6, 2025, and February 3, 2025
- Final – March 16, 2025
2024/25 First Round EFL Cup draw
🔢🏆 Pleased with the draw?#EFL | #CarabaoCup pic.twitter.com/6hORyZuAYO
— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) June 27, 2024
As is always the case, the first round of the Carabao Cup only involves sides from the Championship, League One and League Two, with Premier League teams not entering the draw until the second round at the earliest.
That means there are a total of 70 teams included in the draw at this stage, and the competition is split into two halves – a southern section and a northern section.
Southern Section
- Cambridge United v Queens Park Rangers
- Walsall v Exeter City
- Crawley Town v Swindon Town
- Oxford United v Peterborough United
- Norwich City v Stevenage
- Bromley v AFC Wimbledon
- Portsmouth v Millwall
- Northampton Town v Wycombe Wanderers
- Bristol City v Coventry City
- Cardiff City v Bristol Rovers
- Charlton Athletic v Birmingham City
- Watford v MK Dons
- Swansea City v Gillingham
- Plymouth Argyle v Cheltenham Town
- Leyton Orient v Newport County
- Colchester United v Reading
Northern Section
- Salford City v Doncaster Rovers
- Rotherham United v Crewe Alexandra
- Carlisle United v Stoke City
- Leeds United v Middlesbrough
- Barrow v Port Vale
- Burton Albion v Blackpool
- Tranmere Rovers v Accrington Stanley
- Fleetwood Town v West Bromwich Albion
- Shrewsbury Town v Notts County
- Lincoln City v Harrogate Town
- Derby County v Chesterfield
- Bolton Wanderers v Mansfield Town
- Preston North End v Sunderland
- Sheffield United v Wrexham
- Huddersfield Town v Morecambe
- Wigan Athletic v Barnsley
- Hull City v Sheffield Wednesday
- Stockport County v Blackburn Rovers
- Grimsby Town v Bradford City
Due to the Geography of the teams involved in this round, there will be 38 sides competing in the Northern section, while there will be just 32 representing the South.
As explained, all Carabao Cup Round One fixtures will take place during the week commencing August 12, 2024.