Carabao Cup Round Two draw: Everything you need to know

The Carabao Cup is back, with Round Two on the horizon.

The season seems to start earlier every year – and that’s certainly the case in the League Cup, where we’ve already had a preliminary round (between just the four lowest-ranked EFL clubs) and a first round between 70 sides.

Now for the competition to introduce Premier League teams: let’s explain what’s going on with Round Two.

When will Round Two for the Carabao Cup be drawn?

Round Two for the Carabao Cup will be down live on Sky Sports Football on Monday August 10, at approximately 7:20pm.

Sky Sports presenter David Prutton hosts alongside Jobi McAnuff and Jamie Mackie, with the draw part of the build-up before Plymouth Argyle face Exeter City in a Devon derby to round off the First Round.

Will Round Two of the Carabao Cup be regionalised?

Yes, Round Two of the Carabao Cup sees all 46 teams split by north and south.

This is not a perfect split, however: Norwich City and Leicester City are geographically among the 22 northernmost teams in this draw, yet both are placed in the South section.

West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers, meanwhile, are geographically among the 24 southernmost teams, yet both are placed in the North section.

Walsall, Peterborough United, Shrewsbury Town and Birmingham City all find themselves on the margins of the border – while York City found themselves in the southern section of the Round One draw, as a promoted team through from the preliminary round.

The EFL have been known to take travel routes into account, along with historical regional alignments, while looking to maintain the exact required quota of teams per section, rather than drawing a strict horizontal line across a map.

Will Round Two of the Carabao Cup be seeded?

No, the Carabao Cup is not seeded at this stage – but the EFL have introduced seeds in Round Three, purely for logistic reasons.

English teams in the Champions League and Europa League play two more matchdays than those in the Conference League, meaning that there could be a fixture pile-up without some kind of system to keep these sides from meeting.

Last season, for example, third-round Carabao ties began on the weeks commencing September 16 and 23, with European fixtures clashing.

Which Premier League teams enter Carabao Cup at Round Two?

A total of 11 Premier League clubs enter at Round Two – with any side in Europe getting a bye to Round Three.

These are as follows:

• Brentford
• Chelsea
• Everton
• Fulham
• Hull City
• Ipswich Town
• Leeds United
• Newcastle United
• Nottingham Forest
• Sunderland
• Tottenham Hotspur

Ball numbers

What are the ball numbers for Round Two?

The ball numbers for Round Two of the Carabao Cup are as follows.

North:

1. Barnsley
2. Blackburn Rovers
3. Blackpool
4. Bradford City
5. Burnley
6. Crewe Alexandra
7. Doncaster Rovers
8. Everton
9. Fleetwood Town
10. Hull City
11. Leeds United
12. Lincoln City
13. Middlesbrough
14. Newcastle United
15. Nottingham Forest
16. Preston North End
17. Sheffield United
18. Sheffield Wednesday
19. Shrewsbury Town
20. Stoke City
21. West Bromwich Albion
22. Wolverhampton Wanderers

South:

1. AFC Wimbledon
2. Birmingham City
3. Brentford
4. Cambridge Utd
5. Cardiff City
6. Charlton Athletic
7. Chelsea
8. Coventry City
9. Fulham
10. Ipswich Town
11. Leicester City
12. Leyton Orient
13. Luton Town
14. Millwall
15. Norwich City
16. Peterborough
17. Reading
18. Southampton
19. Stevenage
20. Tottenham Hotspur
21. Walsall
22. Watford
23. West Ham United
24. Plymouth Argyle or Exeter City