Saints learn dates as EFL confirm Carabao Cup info with unusual new round
A general view of the Carabao Cup Trophy ahead of the 2025 Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium, London. (Image: PA)
SAINTS will enter the Carabao Cup first round to be played week commencing Monday, August 11, at the start of the 2025/26 season.
But a new preliminary round will be played for the first time a week earlier, due to nine Premier League teams being involved in European competition.
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The format of the Carabao Cup will be amended to introduce a four-team preliminary qualifying round, to reduce the number of qualified clubs.
Those European-competing clubs will then join the competition in the third round, as they did last season, with a total of 32 clubs remaining.
The preliminary round will consist of the two promoted clubs from the National League (Barnet and Oldham Athletic) and the clubs finishing in 21st and 22nd place in League Two (Accrington Stanley and Newport County) last season.
The ties will be regionalised North and South as they are in round one, with Accrington playing Oldham and Barnet playing Newport County.
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The Carabao Cup round one draw will take place live on Sky Sports News at 4:30pm on Thursday, June 26, as part of the EFL's fixture release day.
The round dates for the Carabao Cup have been confirmed as the following:
Preliminary Round: w/c 4 August 2025.
Round One: w/c 11 August 2025.
Round Two: w/c 25 August 2025.
Round Three: w/c 15 September and w/c 22 September 2025.
Round Four: w/c 27 October 2025.
Round Five: w/c 15 December 2025.
Semi-Final First Leg: w/c 12 January 2026.
Semi-Final Second Leg: w/c 2 February 2026.
Final: Sunday 22 March 2026.
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