Manchester United’s name will be drawn out of the hat for the first time in the Carabao Cup this week and here is all you need to know about the competition in 2024/25.
The season is now fully underway and the Carabao Cup is into its second round week, though Manchester United are yet to compete in the tournament.
However, they will learn their first opponents in the competition this week as the remaining Premier League sides join the competition in the third-round draw.
There are some changes to the competition this year, though, so here is everything you need to know about this season’s Carabao Cup.
When do Man United start the Carabao Cup?
Manchester United begin their Carabao Cup campaign in round three in the week commencing September 16, ahead of their Premier League encounter with Crystal Palace the following Saturday.
Carabao Cup changes 2024/25
With the fixture list getting ever-larger thanks to the extension of the European competitions this season, the Carabao Cup has had to make some changes to accommodate the additional fixtures.
The third round of the competition sees the remaining Premier League teams who didn’t join in the second round enter the fray.
However, instead of the whole round taking place across a single mid-week, the third round will be held across two weeks of midweek fixtures due to the impact of the extended European group stages.
As a result, this has seen a change to how the third round draw is worked and it will actually be held over two stages, with the first concerning United.
When is the Carabao Cup third-round draw?
The Carabao Cup third-round draw will be held on Wednesday, August 28, at the City Ground after the second-round tie between Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United.
The draw will be broadcast on Sky Sports following the conclusion of the tie after 10 pm.
Carabao Cup third-round draw explained
Teams competing in the Champions League and Europa League this season cannot go up against each other.
Those teams – United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Tottenham – will be placed in bowl one.
Each of those six teams will then be drawn to determine whether they are the home or away side in their six respective ties.
The remaining 26 teams are placed in bowl two and six teams will be drawn out to face one of the European sides.
Though Chelsea are competing in Europe this season in the Europa Conference League, they are between legs in their qualifying campaign so will not be included with the other teams confirmed to be in their respective tournaments.
In the second phase of the draw, the remaining 20 teams in bowl two will be drawn as normal to determine the rest of the round’s fixtures.
Potential Man Utd opponents in the Carabao Cup and third-round ball numbers
The ball numbers have been confirmed for the Carabao Cup third-round draw. United can face any team except their fellow teams in bowl one. The ball numbers are:
- 1 Arsenal
- 2 Aston Villa
- 3 Barnsley
- 4 Barrow
- 5 Blackpool
- 6 Bolton Wanderers
- 7 Brighton & Hove Albion
- 8 Chelsea
- 9 Coventry City
- 10 Crystal Palace
- 11 Everton
- 12 Fleetwood Town
- 13 Fulham
- 14 Leicester City
- 15 Leyton Orient
- 16 Liverpool
- 17 Manchester City
- 18 Manchester United
- 19 Preston North End
- 20 Queens Park Rangers
- 21 Sheffield Wednesday
- 22 Stoke City
- 23 Tottenham Hotspur
- 24 Walsall
- 25 Watford
- 26 AFC Wimbledon or Ipswich Town
- 27 Cardiff City or Southampton
- 28 Colchester United or Brentford
- 29 Nottingham Forest or Newcastle United
- 30 Swansea City or Wycombe Wanderers
- 31 West Ham United or AFC Bournemouth
- 32 Wolverhampton Wanderers or Burnley
Carabao Cup schedule
- Round Three: 18 & 25 September
- Round Four: 30 October
- Quarter-Final: 18 December
- Semi-Final: 8 January (first leg) & 5 February (second leg)
- Final: 16 March
Where is the Carabao Cup final?
The Carabao Cup final will take place at Wembley Stadium, the home of English football, and be held on the slightly later date of March 16, 2025.
What do the winners get?
The winners of the Carabao Cup tournament will lift the League Cup Trophy and get the honour of becoming the first team to win a piece of silverware in the 2024/25 season.
The prize money on offer in the tournament is a pittance compared to what teams get from competing in the Premier League and European competitions.
In the 2023/24 season, the winners were rewarded with a mere £100,000.
Have Manchester United won the Carabao Cup before?
Yes. Manchester United have won the League Cup, in its many different guises, six times over the last three decades.
United first won the competition in 1992 and last claimed the trophy when Erik ten Hag ended a six-year trophy drought by defeating Newcastle United 2-0 in the final in 2023.
United’s six League Cup triumphs came in 1991/92, 2005/06, 2008/09, 2009/10, 2016/17 and 2022/23.
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