Goal brings you all you need to know about this year's edition of the Carabao Cup, where Pep Guardiola's side will be aiming to defend their title
The first round of this year's Carabao Cup has gotten underway, with Premier League teams set to enter the competition within the next few weeks.
Manchester City will be looking to defend their title after their 3-0 win over Arsenal at Wembley Stadium earlier in the year, while the EFL Cup also gives a chance for teams in the lower divisions of English football to face off against the big-name likes competing in the Premier League.
Goal has your complete guide, including what teams are participating, as well as draw dates, game schedules and results.
Carabao Cup 2018-19 format
All 92 clubs competing in the Premier League and the English Football League will enter the 2018-19 EFL Cup, with participation distributed across the divisions.
The competition will be played over seven rounds, with single leg ties throughout, except in the semi-finals.
In round one, the draw will be split into northern and southern clubs with 22 Championship clubs and all League One and League Two clubs entering.
In the second round, the two remaining Championship clubs Swansea and Stoke (who finished 18th and 19th last season in the Premier League) as well as the Premier League clubs not involved in either the Champions League or Europa League will enter.
The likes of Arsenal, Burnley, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will then enter the third round due to their participation in Europe.
The first round for the Carabao Cup was completed on June 15 in Vietnam.
Carabao Cup first round
70 clubs participated in the first round, with 24 teams from League Two (tier 4), 24 from League One (tier 3), and 22 from the Championship (tier 2).
The draw for this round was divided between 'northern' and 'southern' sections, and teams were drawn against a team from the same section.
The Stadium of Light will be hosting the draw for the second round on August 16, before Sunderland face Sheffield Wednesday.
The English Football League clubs voted to implement a number of changes to this year's Carabao Cup at the annual EFL Summer Conference in Portugal, held in June 2018. Extra-time will be abandoned for all rounds except for the final, with ties advancing straight to penalty shoot-outs in the nature that the scoreline 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 with Premier League matches occurring at the weekend a few days before and after.
The ABBA penalty system trial was also eliminated, with the format for penalty shoot-outs now reverting to the standard ABAB penalty-taker format.
Seeding has also been removed from the first two rounds, though the first round's organisation relied on a regional basis.
Video assistant refereeing (VAR) has also been implemented for use at fixtures played at Premier League grounds, such as Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford.
Why is the Football League Cup called the Carabao Cup?
Up 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. The name changes depending on which brand sponsors the tournament, which is typically a brand of energy or alcoholic drink.
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 and 2015-16), the Carling Cup (sponsored by Molsoon Coors from 2003-04 and 2011-12), the Worthington Cup (sponsored by Worthington's from 1998-99 and 2002-03), and the Coca-Cola Cup (from 1992-93 and 1997-98).
Carabao & League Cup past winners*
Liverpool are the club to have won the EFL Cup the most times, winning their eighth title in 2012 when they defeated Cardiff City on penalties. They have been runners-up in the competition four times, last coming in second in 2016 when they were defeated by Manchester City in the shootout.
Manchester United's five titles make them the club to have won the trophy the second-highest times in English football, last winning the tournament in 2017.
Aston Villa, Chelsea and defending champions Manchester City have all won the EFL Cup five times each, with Pep Guardiola's side most recently defeating Arsenal 3-0 in the 2018 Carabao Cup final.
Tottenham and Nottingham Forest have both won the competition four times each, with the win in 2008 being the last time the North London side last lifted a piece of silverware.