Carabao Cup second-round draw features Chelsea vs Luton, Tottenham vs Charlton
Carabao Cup Second Round Fixtures Announced
The draw for the second round of the Carabao Cup has been completed, setting up several matchups for Premier League clubs. Among the notable fixtures, Chelsea will host League One Luton at Stamford Bridge, while Tottenham is scheduled to play Championship side Charlton. Both Chelsea and Tottenham are among the 11 Premier League teams not participating in European competitions this season, thus entering the tournament at this stage.
Nottingham Forest, four-time winners of the competition, will face Leeds in the only all-Premier League tie of the second round. This match is part of the northern section of the draw. Other significant fixtures include Newcastle taking on West Bromwich Albion, and Fulham playing AFC Wimbledon at Craven Cottage.
Everton will travel to Preston North End, a match that marks a return to Deepdale for David Moyes, who began his managerial career there. Brentford faces an away trip to Birmingham City, and Ipswich is set to play Leicester. In the southern section, West Ham, following their first-round victory over Portsmouth, will visit fellow Championship side Southampton.
Fixture Complications Arise for London Clubs
The scheduling of the second-round ties, which are all due to take place in the midweek of the week commencing Monday, 24 August, has created potential fixture complications, particularly for Chelsea and Fulham. Both clubs were drawn at home in the Carabao Cup, and they are not typically scheduled to play at home on the same day. This situation may require concessions from the police or creative solutions from the EFL.
Further complicating matters, the Premier League match between Fulham and Chelsea was selected for live broadcast on Monday, 24 August. With both teams entering the Carabao Cup in the second round, they faced the prospect of playing two games within the same midweek period. While EFL Cup ties would ordinarily be played on the Thursday to allow for 72 hours of rest, this could impact the subsequent Premier League weekend schedule.
For instance, Fulham’s match at Sunderland was moved to the Sunday, and Chelsea’s game against Brighton was also chosen for Sunday broadcast. However, the home draws for both Fulham and Chelsea in the Carabao Cup present a challenge regarding stadium availability on the same day. This could also affect eight EFL clubs, as the opponents of Fulham and Chelsea—Wimbledon and Luton, respectively—have League One matches scheduled for the Saturday after the Carabao Cup ties.
If one or both Carabao Cup ties are moved to Thursday, the Saturday League One games would typically shift to Sunday. An additional complication is a full program of League One games scheduled for the following Tuesday, 1 September, which could necessitate moving four of those matches to Wednesday. This scenario could lead to teams playing two games within 48 hours or supporters facing displaced travel arrangements.
Draw Details and Participating Teams
The draw for the second round was regionalised, split into northern and southern sections. The 11 Premier League teams not involved in European competitions enter at this stage, joining the winners from the first round. The nine English clubs participating in European competitions will enter the Carabao Cup in the third round.
In the southern section, Chelsea was assigned ball number seven during the draw. Other teams in this section included AFC Wimbledon (1), Birmingham City (2), Brentford (3), Cambridge United (4), Cardiff City (5), Charlton Athletic (6), Coventry City (8), Fulham (9), Ipswich Town (10), Leicester City (11), Leyton Orient (12), Luton Town (13), Millwall (14), Norwich City (15), Peterborough (16), Reading (17), Southampton (18), Stevenage (19), Tottenham (20), Walsall (21), Watford (22), West Ham (23), and the winner of Plymouth or Exeter (24).
The northern section featured teams such as Barnsley, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bradford, Burnley, Crewe Alexandra, Doncaster, Everton, Fleetwood, Hull City, Leeds United, Lincoln City, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Preston North End, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Shrewsbury, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, and Wolverhampton Wanderers. All second-round ties will be one-legged, with a penalty shootout determining the winner if scores are level after 90 minutes.
The games potentially impacted by scheduling conflicts on Saturday, 29 August include Wimbledon v Wigan and Mansfield v Luton. For Tuesday, 1 September, the affected matches could be Burton v Wimbledon, Wigan v MK Dons, Luton v Stockport, and Reading v Mansfield.
Source: bbc.com
