Chelsea’s interest in the Carabao Cup begins this week as we find out our opponents for the third round. Here we detail how to follow the draw and explain why it is different to previous years.
The Blues have won the competition on five occasions and reached last year’s final, with our most recent triumph back in 2015.
This year will see a different format for the third round draw and below we look to answer some of the key questions you may have.
When is the Carabao Cup third round draw?
The draw will take place on Wednesday 28 August at approximately 10.15pm UK time.
How can I watch the Carabao Cup draw?
It will be live on Sky Sports after Newcastle and Nottingham Forest have faced each other.
How does the draw work?
There is a change to the normal process for the draw this year owing to the increased number of Champions League and Europa League group stage fixtures.
Two additional matchweeks have been added to the calendar for those two competitions. They clash with the dates for the Carabao Cup third round, which will be staggered over the weeks commencing 16 September and 23 September.
To ensure there is no clash of fixture dates for the six English teams playing in these competitions, two bowls will be used for the draw. Bowl One will contain the teams who have reached the Champions League and Europa League, while Bowl Two will have the remaining 26 clubs, including Chelsea.
The six teams in Bowl One will be pre-drawn before the Nottingham Forest vs Newcastle game to determine whether they’ll be at home or away in the third round. They will be placed apart across the first six ties. This means that Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Manchester United and Tottenham cannot face each other in the third round.
When the main draw gets underway later on Wednesday, teams from Bowl Two will complete the first six ties. The remaining ten ties will be drawn from those teams still in Bowl Two.
This will only be the case for the third round as the rest of the competition will follow the traditional free-draw format.
When will the Carabao Cup third round be played?
Games will be played in the week commencing either 16 September or 23 September.
You can find out who we will face on the Chelsea website, official Chelsea app and our social media channels after the draw has been made. The date for our game will be confirmed in due course.