2020–21 EFL Cup


The 2020–21 EFL Cup will be the 61st season of the EFL Cup. Also known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, the competition is open to all clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League.
Manchester City are the three-time defending champions, having retained the trophy in 2020, defeating Aston Villa in the final at Wembley Stadium in London on 1 March 2020.

Access

All 92 clubs in the Premier League and English Football League will enter the season's EFL Cup. Access is distributed across the top four leagues of the English football league system. For the first two rounds, the draw is regionalised into northern and southern clubs.
In the first round, 22 of 24 Championship clubs and all League One, and League Two clubs enter.
The following round, the two remaining Championship clubs who finished 18th and 19th respectively in the 2019–20 Premier League season, and the Premier League clubs not involved in either the Champions League or Europa League enter.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur will all receive byes to the third round owing to their participation in European competitions.
Clubs entering in this roundClubs advancing from previous roundNumber of games
First round

  • N/A
    		• 35
    Second round
    • 2 clubs from EFL Championship
    • 13 Premier League clubs
  • 35 winners from first round
    		• 25
    Third round
    • 7 Premier League clubs
  • 25 winners from second round
    		• 16
    Fourth round
    • N/A
  • 16 winners from third round
    		• 8
    Quarter-finals
    • N/A
  • 8 winners from fourth round
    		• 4
    Semi-finals
    • N/A
  • 4 winners from fifth round
    		• 4
    Final
    • N/A
  • 2 winners from semi-finals
    		• 1