Carabao Cup 3rd-Round Draw Yields Liverpool-Chelsea Clash
With the second round of England's Carabao Cup coming to a close this week, the Premier League's big boys have entered the competition for its third round.
The top flight has already seen teams booted out, with Huddersfield Town losing to Stoke City and Cardiff City going out courtesy of Norwich City. And it will be quite the intrigue moving forward as the likes of last season's champions Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Burnley are poised for an entrance, with the draw for the next round having taken place on Thursday night.
There are still a few lower-league sides remaining in the competition looking to cut off a big scalp in the next round, and Nottingham Forest already dumped Newcastle United out rather convincingly on Wednesday night, beating them 3-1.
The League Cup has so far proven to be a magical affair, providing Stoke's Saido Berahino with a platform to break his 913-day goal drought, so we can expect some thrills.
Meanwhile, City, who also captured the Premier League crown at the end of last season, have been drawn against Oxford United in an away fixture, while Champions League finalists Liverpool will face Chelsea at Anfield in the third round's biggest fixture.
FULL DRAW
West Brom v. Crystal Palace
Arsenal v. Brentford
Burton Albion v Burnley
Wycombe v. Norwich
Oxford United v. Manchester City
West Ham v. Macclesfield
Millwall v. Fulham
Liverpool v. Chelsea
Bournemouth v. Blackburn
Preston v. Middlesbrough
Wolves v. Leicester City
Spurs v. Watford
Blackpool v. QPR
Everton v. Southampton
Manchester United v. Derby County
Nottingham Forest v. Stoke City
The competition has been made more interesting this year as extra time for drawn matches will be a thing of the past. Teams will head straight to penalties if they cannot be separated in regulation and the spot-kick format will return to the traditional ABAB system instead of the modified ABBA used last season.
The third round of the Carabao Cup will be played in the week commencing September 24.