Carabao Cup Third-Round Draw: Unconventional Timing and Format - All You Need to Know

The second round of matches for the 2024/25 Carabao Cup will kick off this week, with 50 clubs vying for a spot in the next stage of the competition.

A total of 13 Premier League clubs enter the competition at this stage, with Fulham travelling to League One Birmingham City in front of the cameras on Tuesday night, while Nottingham Forest’s clash with Newcastle United will be screened live on Wednesday.

The seven Premier League sides who are competing in Europe this season do not take part in the second round, and instead get a bye into the third round, so will be among those to discover their opponents this week.

Holders Liverpool, who triumphed in last season’s final, enter in the third round, along with Manchester City, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Manchester United.

When is the Carabao Cup third-round draw?

The draw is set to take place on Wednesday, August 28 and will commence following the conclusion of Nottingham Forest’s game with Newcastle, which kicks off at 8pm.

How can I watch the Carabao Cup third-round draw?

The 2024/25 Carabao Cup third-round draw will be shown live on and Football. Mark Chapman will host the draw.

When are the Carabao Cup third-round games set to be played?

The Carabao Cup third-round matches are set to be played during the week commencing Monday, September 16, or the week commencing Monday, September 23. Most fixtures are expected to be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

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The reason that the matches are spread over two weeks is because there are Champions League fixtures on September 17, 18 and 19, while there are Europa League fixtures on September 25 and 26. This is because of a change in format to UEFA’s competitions this season. There are no Conference League fixtures in either week.

This means that the four Premier League teams taking part in the Champions League – Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa – will play their Carabao Cup third-round ties in the week commencing September 23.

The two Premier League teams taking part in the Europa League – Manchester United and Tottenham – will play their Carabao Cup third-round ties in the week commencing September 16.

Why is the draw different to normal?

Each year, the Carabao Cup third-round draw is usually an open draw, with no regionalised divide.

While again there is no regionalised divide this year, a pre-draw will take place to ensure that a team taking part in the Champions League cannot face a team taking part in the Europa League, because there would be no available date to play the game on.

For the main draw, two separate bowls will be utilised. Bowl one will consist of the six Champions League and Europa League clubs, while bowl two will consist of the remaining 26 clubs.

The pre-draw will take place prior to Nottingham Forest’s game with Newcastle, to determine the home or away positioning of the six clubs in bowl one, for the first six ties of the main draw.

The first six ties will be drawn by alternating between one club from bowl one and one club from bowl two, with the home or away positioning of the club from bowl one already pre-determined in the earlier draw.

Once the six clubs from bowl one have been drawn, the remaining 10 ties will be drawn from bowl two only.

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