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The 2020-21 edition of the Carabao Cup began in August, with Championship, League One and League Two sides entering the competition.
Premier League sides joined in the second round and third round, with the latter stages of the competition taking place in early 2021.
Goal has your complete guide, including participating teams, full draw information, fixture schedules and results.
- Carabao Cup format
- Carabao Cup final
- Carabao Cup semi-finals
- Carabao Cup quarter-finals
- Carabao Cup fourth round
- Carabao Cup third round
- Carabao Cup second round
- Carabao Cup first round
- Carabao Cup on TV
- Carabao Cup rules
- Away goals
- Why is the League Cup called the Carabao Cup?
- Past winners
Carabao Cup 2020-21 format
All 92 clubs competing in the Premier League and the English Football League entered the 2020-21 Carabao Cup, with participation distributed across the divisions.
The competition was played over seven rounds, with single-leg ties throughout. The previous two-legged tie for the semi-final was scrapped in favour of one.
In round one, the draw was split into northern and southern clubs with 22 Championship sides and all League One and League Two clubs entering.
Carabao Cup 2020-21 final
Manchester City were the winners of the 2021 Carabao Cup final, defeating Tottenham 1-0 at Wembley.
It was their fourth time in a row winning the tournament and their eighth time lifting the trophy overall.
The Carabao Cup 2020-21 final was played at Wembley Stadium on Sunday April 25, 2021. It kicked off at 4pm GMT (11am ET)
It had originally been scheduled for February 28, 2021, but the EFL made the decision to rearrange the date in order to increase the chances of supporters being able to attend - which they did.
| Date | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Apr 25 | Tottenham 0-1 Manchester City |
Carabao Cup 2020-21 semi-finals
The Carabao Cup 2020-21 semi-finals were played on January 4 and 5, 2021, with the ties contested over one leg rather than two to help with fixture congestion.
Tottenham booked their place in the final after seeing off Championship side Brentford with a 2-0 win in north London.
They were joined in the final by defending champions Manchester City, who overcame Manchester United at Old Trafford in a huge derby encounter.
| Date | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Jan 5 | Tottenham 2-0 Brentford |
| Jan 6 | Manchester United 0-2 Manchester City |
Carabao Cup 2020-21 quarter-finals
The quarter-final ties were played the week starting December 21.
Manchester City compounded Mikel Arteta's woes by inflicting a 4-1 defeat on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, closing off a potential avenue for redemption for the Gunners boss.
They were to be joined in the final four by local rivals Manchester United, who scored two late goals to see of Everton.
Championship promotion contenders Brentford sprung a surprise by beating Newcastle United.
Tottenham also faced Championship opposition in the form of Stoke City, beating them 3-1 at the bet365 Stadium.
| Date | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Dec 22 | Brentford 1-0 Newcastle United |
| Dec 22 | Arsenal 1-4 Manchester City |
| Dec 23 | Stoke City 1-3 Tottenham |
| Dec 23 | Everton 0-2 Manchester United |
Carabao Cup 2020-21 fourth round
The fourth round ties were played the week commencing September 28.
Tottenham advanced to the quarter-finals over Chelsea through penalty shootout, while Liverpool were outdone by Arsenal in the same manner.
Man Utd beat Brighton 3-0 to progress, while Man City registered victory against Burnley by the same scoreline.
| Date | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Sep 29 | Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea (5-4 pens.) |
| Sep 30 | Newport County 1-1 Newcastle United (4-5 pens.) |
| Sep 30 | Burnley 0-3 Manchester City |
| Sep 30 | Everton 4-1 West Ham |
| Sep 30 | Brighton 0-3 Manchester United |
| Oct 1 | Brentford 3-0 Fulham |
| Oct 1 | Aston Villa 0-1 Stoke City |
| Oct 1 | Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal (4-5 pens.) |
Carabao Cup 2020-21 third round
The likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were automatically registered for the third round due to their participation in European competitions.
Leyton Orient's match against Tottenham was called off due to the home side announcing positive Covid-19 cases , with Spurs handed a bye for the fourth round.
The draw was conducted on September 6, and was played the week commencing September 21.
| Date | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Sep 22 | Leyon Orient A-A Tottenham (Spurs handed bye) |
| Sep 22 | Newport County 3-1 Watford |
| Sep 22 | West Brom 2-2 Brentford (4-5 pens.) |
| Sep 22 | West Ham 5-1 Hull City |
| Sep 22 | Luton Town 0-3 Man Utd |
| Sep 23 | Preston North End 0-2 Brighton |
| Sep 23 | Chelsea 6-0 Barnlsey |
| Sep 23 | Fleetwood Town 2-5 Everton |
| Sep 23 | Fulham 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday |
| Sep 23 | Leicester City 0-2 Arsenal |
| Sep 23 | Millwall 0-2 Burnley |
| Sep 23 | Morecambe 0-7 Newcastle United |
| Sep 23 | Stoke City 1-0 Gillingham |
| Sep 24 | Bristol City 0-3 Aston Villa |
| Sep 24 | Lincoln City 2-7 Liverpool |
| Sep 24 | Manchester City 2-1 Bournemouth |
Carabao Cup 2020-21 second round
Fifty teams were involved in round two of the Carabao Cup, including Premier League clubs that are not participating in European competition.
Like previous years, the draw was again split into 'northern' and 'southern' sections. The draw for the second round was made on September 6.
| Date | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Sep 15 | Bournemouth 0-0 Crystal Palace (pens. 11-10) |
| Sep 15 | Bradford City 0-5 Lincoln City |
| Sep 15 | Burton Albion 1-3 Aston Villa |
| Sep 15 | Derby County 1-2 Preston North End |
| Sep 15 | Fleetwood Town 2-1 Port Vale |
| Sep 15 | Gillingham 1-1 Coventry City (5-4 pens.) |
| Sep 15 | Leyton Orient 3-2 Plymouth Argyle |
| Sep 15 | Middlesbrough 0-2 Barnsley |
| Sep 15 | Millwall 3-1 Cheltenham Town |
| Sep 15 | Morecambe 1-0 Oldham Athletic |
| Sep 15 | Newcastle United 1-0 Blackburn Rovers |
| Sep 15 | Newport County 1-0 Cambridge United |
| Sep 15 | Oxford United 1-1 Watford (0-3 pens.) |
| Sep 15 | Reading 0-1 Luton Town |
| Sep 15 | Rochdale 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday |
| Sep 15 | West Ham United 3-0 Charlton Athletic |
| Sep 16 | Bristol City 4-0 Northampton Town |
| Sep 16 | Everton 3-0 Salford City |
| Sep 16 | Ipswich Town 0-1 Fulham |
| Sep 16 | Leeds United 1-1 Hull City (8-9 pens.) |
| Sep 16 | Southampton 0-2 Brentford |
| Sep 16 | West Brom 3-0 Harrogate Town |
| Sep 17 | Brighton 4-0 Portsmouth |
| Sep 17 | Burnley 1-1 Sheffield United (5-4 pens.) |
| Sep 17 | Wolves 0-1 Stoke |
Carabao Cup 2020-21 first round
Seventy clubs participated in the first round, with 24 teams from League Two (tier four), 24 from League One (tier three), and 22 from the Championship (tier two).
The draw was divided between 'northern' and 'southern' sections. Teams were drawn against a team from the same section.
| Date | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Aug 29 | Preston North End 4-0 Mansfield Town |
| Aug 29 | Blackburn Rovers 3-2 Doncaster Rovers |
| Aug 29 | Stoke City 0-0 Blackpool (5-4 pens.) |
| Aug 29 | Stevenage 3-3 Portsmouth (1-3 pens.) |
| Sep 4 | Burton Albion 1-1 Accrington Stanley (4-2 pens.) |
| Sep 4 | Middlesbrough 4-3 Shrewsbury Town |
| Sep 5 | Derby County 0-0 Barrow (3-2 pens.) |
| Sep 5 | Plymouth Argyle 3-2 Queens Park Rangers |
| Sep 5 | Crawley Town 1-3 Millwall |
| Sep 5 | Gillingham 1-0 Southend United |
| Sep 5 | Bristol City 2-0 Exeter City |
| Sep 5 | Walsall 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday (2-4 pens.) |
| Sep 5 | Tranmere Rovers 1-1 Harrogate Town (7-8 pens.) |
| Sep 5 | Crewe Alexandra 1-2 Lincoln City |
| Sep 5 | Huddersfield Town 0-1 Rochdale |
| Sep 5 | Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Bradford City |
| Sep 5 | Fleetwood Town 3-2 Wigan Athletic |
| Sep 5 | Grimsby Town 1-1 Morecambe (3-4 pens.) |
| Sep 5 | Scunthorpe United 1-2 Port Vale |
| Sep 5 | Sunderland 0-0 Hull City (4-5 pens.) |
| Sep 5 | Salford City 1-1 Rotherham United (4-2 pens.) |
| Sep 5 | Barnsley 1-0 Nottingham Forest |
| Sep 5 | Oldham Athletic 3-0 Carlisle United |
| Sep 5 | Swindon Town 1-3 Charlton Athletic |
| Sep 5 | Forest Green Rovers 1-2 Leyton Orient |
| Sep 5 | Milton Keynes Dons 0-1 Coventry City |
| Sep 5 | Peterborough United 0-1 Cheltenham Town |
| Sep 5 | Northampton Town 3-0 Cardiff City |
| Sep 5 | Luton Town 3-1 Norwich City |
| Sep 5 | Birmingham City 0-1 Cambridge United |
| Sep 5 | Newport County 2-0 Swansea City |
| Sep 5 | Oxford United 1-1 Wimbledon (4-3 pens.) |
| Sep 5 | Reading 3-1 Colchester United |
| Sep 5 | Ipswich Town 3-0 Bristol Rovers |
| Sep 6 | Brentford 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers (4-2 pens.) |
Carabao Cup 2020-21 on TV
In the United Kingdom, the Carabao Cup will be broadcast and live-streamed on Sky Sports.
In the United States, the competition will be shown on ESPN channels.
Carabao Cup 2020-21 rules
As was the case in 2019-20, extra-time will be abandoned for all rounds except for the final, with ties advancing straight to penalties in the event that the score is a draw at the end of regular time .
This was introduced in order to limit issues of "additional fatigue", as Carabao Cup fixtures typically take place in the middle of the week.
The ABBA penalty system trial was also eliminated, with the format for penalty shoot-outs now reverting to the standard ABAB penalty-taker order.
Seeding has also been removed from the first two rounds.
Video assistant refereeing (VAR) will continue to be in use in fixtures played at Premier League grounds.
Additionally, this will mark the first instance in which the winner will also qualify for the play-offs of the brand-new Europa Conference League, instead of the second qualifying round of the Europa League.
All ties will be played as single legs.
Will away goals count in the Carabao Cup semi-finals?
If both teams are level after the end of full-time during the second leg of either of the semi-final ties, the game will go directly to a penalty shoot-out with a no away goals rule implemented - a rule which began in 2018-19.
Previously, the away-goal rule was used in the semi-final stage in the same manner as it is in the Champions League knockout rounds. If, for instance, the away team scored a goal in the first leg that ended in a 1-1 draw, with the second leg ending 0-0, then that team would have progressed to the final courtesy of the away-goals rule.
Now, no such rule will be considered and second-leg stalemates will be decided ultimately by a penalty shoot-out.
Why is the League Cup called the Carabao Cup?
Until 2016, the tournament was named the English Football League Cup (EFL Cup) instead of the League Cup, following the rebranding of the Football League to the English Football League.
Officially, the EFL Cup is known as the Carabao Cup due to the energy drink being the tournament's official sponsors.
Prior to Carabao's sponsorship of the tournament starting from 2017, the competition was called the EFL Cup (2016-17), the Capital One Cup (2012-13 to 2015-16), the Carling Cup (sponsored by Molson Coors from 2003-04 to 2011-12), the Worthington Cup (sponsored by Worthington's from 1998-99 to 2002-03), and the Coca-Cola Cup (from 1992-93 to 1997-98).
Carabao & League Cup past winners
Liverpool have won the Carabao Cup the most times, winning their eighth in 2012 when they defeated Cardiff City on penalties.
Behind them are Man City, who lifted their seventh Carabao Cup in 2020 when they beat Aston Villa through penalty shootout. Manchester United, Aston Villa and Chelsea have all won the Carabao Cup five times each.
Tottenham and Nottingham Forest have both won the competition four times apiece.
Only lists teams who have won the competition the most times.