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28 August 2024

Carabao Cup Draw: Liverpool To Start Defence vs West Ham; Chelsea To Host Barrow  (Sky Sports)

EFL CupLiverpool will begin their defence of the Carabao Cup with the visit of West Ham to Anfield next month.

Due to the expansions of the Champions League and Europa League from the 2024/25 season, two bowls were used in the draw to ensure there are no fixture clashes for third-round dates and European fixtures.

Bowl One contained teams who reached the UCL and EL last season - Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester United - and Bowl Two contained the other 26 teams - meaning the European teams cannot face each other.

The six teams were drawn first to determine if they would play home or away for the third round - and then slotted into six different ties - before the remaining 10 ties were drawn.

Man City welcome Tom Cleverley's high-flying Watford to the Etihad, while Arsenal face Bolton for the first time since 2012 and Manchester United take on Barnsley for the first time in 15 years.

Aston Villa and Tottenham face trips to League One Wycombe and Coventry of the Championship respectively.

Arguably the picks of the bunch are the ties pitting League Two clubs AFC Wimbledon and Barrow against Newcastle and Chelsea respectively.

Round three fixtures will take place during the weeks commencing September 16 and September 23.

Carabao Cup third-round draw in full

Liverpool vs West Ham

Man City vs Watford

Arsenal vs Bolton

Manchester United vs Barnsley

Wycombe vs Aston Villa

Coventry vs Tottenham

Walsall vs Leicester

Brentford vs Leyton Orient

Blackpool vs Sheffield Wednesday

Preston vs Fulham

Everton vs Southampton

QPR vs Crystal Palace

Stoke vs Fleetwood

Brighton vs Wolves

AFC Wimbledon vs Newcastle

Chelsea vs Barrow

Key dates for the rest of the tournament

Round four: w/c October 28

Quarter-final: w/c December 16

Semi-final: w/c January 6 2025 (first leg) & w/c February 3 2025 (second leg)

Final: Sunday March 16 2025