Carabao Cup brings in preliminary round for 2025-26
Four EFL sides will compete in the newly introduced preliminary round of the Carabao Cup in August
- Published
The 2025-26 Carabao Cup will include a preliminary round to accommodate the increased number of Premier League clubs with European commitments.
Nine top-flight sides are set to participate in European competitions next season, prompting the change to help reduce the number of clubs in the first two rounds.
The preliminary round will feature the two sides promoted from the National League and the two clubs who finished 21st and 22nd in League Two.
They will be separated regionally, as is customary with the competition's early rounds, meaning Accrington Stanley will face Oldham Athletic while Barnet take on Newport County.
The home sides for those ties will be drawn at the same time as the draw for round one, on 26 June at 16:30 BST.
All EFL clubs - other than the two eliminated in the preliminary round - will participate in round one of the competition.
The 11 Premier League sides not in Europe enter at the second-round stage while the nine sides to have qualified for Europe - Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace - come in at round three.
Palace are waiting for their participation in the Europa League to be rubber-stamped by Uefa, as John Textor's Eagle Football group has a minority shareholding in Palace and a majority stake in French side Lyon, who have also qualified for next season's European competition.
Carabao Cup 2025-26 fixture dates
Preliminary round: week commencing 4 August 2025
Round one: week commencing 11 August 2025
Round two: week commencing 25 August 2025
Round three: split between week commencing 15 September and 22 September 2025 to accommodate clubs participating in Champions League and Europa League
Round four: week commencing 27 October 2025
Round five: week commencing 15 December 2025
Semi-final first leg: week commencing 12 January 2026
Semi-final second leg: week commencing 2 February 2026
Final: Sunday, 22 March 2026
- Published31 January
