When is the Carabao Cup third round draw and who can Arsenal NOT face?
Can Arsenal go one better in this season's Carabao Cup? Back in March, the Gunners were beaten 2-0 by Manchester City in the EFL Cup Final at Wembley. The less said about that the better, albeit Mikel Arteta's team did get the last laugh in the end.
Amazingly, Arsenal have only ever won the League Cup twice, triumphing in 1987 and 1993, defeated in four finals since the latter. As they seek to add to their growing silverware collection, Gooners are about to learn the identity of their first EFL Cup opponents of the season, albeit the draw itself requires some explaining.
The Carabao Cup draw will take place at around 10:15pm (BST) on Wednesday 26 August. This will follow the conclusion of Sky Sports' live coverage of the tie between Preston North End and Everton.
The Carabao Cup third round is is scheduled to take place on the weeks commencing 7 and 14 September. They are spread across two midweeks to avoid scheduling conflicts with UEFA's expanded league phases. The first of those weeks is an exclusive week for the Champions League, followed by the same for the Europa League.
Thus, as Premier League champions, we know that Arteta's team are in Europe's top-tier competition. As a result, the Gunners' EFL Cup tie will be on Tuesday 15 or Wednesday 16 September, in-between away league games against Sunderland and Brighton.
As already documented, the EFL Cup third round is disrupted by expanded UEFA competitions and exclusive weeks. Due to this, Arsenal cannot be drawn against any other club competing in the Champions League or Europa League, namely Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Sunderland or Crystal Palace.
This list does not include Conference League representatives Brighton & Hove Albion. That is because the league phase of UEFA's third-tier competition does not get underway until October.
Due to all these permutations, a pre-draw will take place at around 7:20pm (BST) on Wednesday, which will determine if Arsenal's match will be home or away, before their opponents are revealed.
To be concise, Arteta's team can come up against any of the 23 teams who are victorious in a round two tie this week, as well as Brighton. These clubs are outlined below. Note: six ties are still to be played at the time of publication.
Sky Sports have the rights to broadcast all 92 EFL Cup matches in the United Kingdom and Ireland. On top of this, a minimum of one tie per round will also be available on free-to-air terrestrial channel ITV. Given Arsenal's enormous fanbase, their ties are always in contention for ITV selection.
Around the world, you can catch the Carabao Cup on CBS Sports Golazo and Paramount+ in the United States. On top of this, the competition is also available on DAZN in Canada, beIN SPORTS in Australia, France, New Zealand and most Arab speaking countries, as well as Disney+ in South America and Startimes World in Africa.
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