The Carabao Cup continues with the first Premier League representatives entering the competition at the second-round stage.
Chelsea and Tottenham are among those in the hat as the top-flight teams not playing European football this season join those to have progressed through the first round. Relegated West Ham, Wolves and Burnley were among the weekend winners reaching this stage, and now await their fate against possible Premier League opposition. The draw will take place before Exeter and Plymouth battle for the last place in the second round.
The cup competition remains regionalised for now with the qualifiers split into a north and south section to ease travel demands, limiting the pool of possible opponents for each of the sides. The second-round ties will be played in the week commencing 24 August.
Follow all of the latest as the draw for the Carabao Cup second round is made with our live blog below:
When are the Carabao Cup fixtures being played?
The round dates for the Carabao Cup have been confirmed as the following:
- Round One: Weekend of 7-9 August 2026
- Round Two: w/c 24 August 2026
- Round Three: w/c 7 September and w/c 14 September 2026
- Round Four: w/c 26 October 2026
- Round Five: w/c 14 December 2026
- Semi-Final first leg: w/c 11 January 2027
- Semi-Final second leg: w/c 1 February 2027
- Final: Sunday 21 March 2027
Which Premier League sides enter the competition?
There are eight top-flight teams entering the Carabao Cup in the second round:
- Brentford
- Chelsea
- Fulham
- Newcastle
- Everton
- Leeds
- Nottingham Forest
- Tottenham
Carabao Cup ball numbers
Southern section
- 1 AFC Wimbledon
- 2 Birmingham City
- 3 Brentford
- 4 Cambridge United
- 5 Cardiff City
- 6 Charlton Athletic
- 7 Chelsea
- 8 Coventry City
- 9 Fulham
- 10 Ipswich Town
- 11 Leicester City
- 12 Leyton Orient
- 13 Luton Town
- 14 Millwall
- 15 Norwich City
- 16 Peterborough
- 17 Reading
- 18 Southampton
- 19 Stevenage
- 20 Tottenham Hotspur
- 21 Walsall
- 22 Watford
- 23 West Ham United
- 24 Plymouth Argyle or Exeter City
Carabao Cup ball numbers
Northern section
- 1 Barnsley
- 2 Blackburn Rovers
- 3 Blackpool
- 4 Bradford City
- 5 Burnley
- 6 Crewe Alexandra
- 7 Doncaster Rovers
- 8 Everton
- 9 Fleetwood Town
- 10 Hull City
- 11 Leeds United
- 12 Lincoln City
- 13 Middlesbrough
- 14 Newcastle United
- 15 Nottingham Forest
- 16 Preston North End
- 17 Sheffield United
- 18 Sheffield Wednesday
- 19 Shrewsbury Town
- 20 Stoke City
- 21 West Bromwich Albion
- 22 Wolverhampton Wanderers
When is the Carabao Cup second-round draw?
The Carabao Cup second-round draw will take place on Monday 10 August live on Sky Sports Main Event, during the broadcast of Plymouth vs Exeter – the last game of the first round.
It will take place during the build-up of the match at approximately 7:20pm BST.
Carabao Cup second-round draw
Thirty-eight EFL sides came through the first round, with all three sides who were relegated from the Premier League last season triumphing, as West Ham beat fellow Championship side Portsmouth 3-1, Wolves produced a first-half blitz to down Port Vale 3-0 and Burnley required penalties to scrape past Notts County.
The second round will remain regionalised, with the draw split into southern and northern sections, and the ties will be played in the week commencing 24 August.
Carabao Cup second-round draw
The Carabao Cup will welcome Chelsea, Tottenham and other Premier League teams into the competition in the second round after the competition kicks off over the weekend.
The Blues are the headline act entering the fold after their failure to qualify for Europe last term, with Xabi Alonso hoping to set the tone in his bid for debut-season silverware. After only just avoiding relegation in 2025/26, London rivals Spurs are also in the draw, as are the likes of Newcastle and Leeds.
Good afternoon
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Carabao Cup second round draw.
The Premier League teams which aren’t involved in Europe enter the fray at this stage, while teams are split into north and south regions to limit the opponents they could get.
We’ll have all the build-up to the draw and updates as it happens here.
