The EFL Cup, known by sponsorship as the Carabao Cup, is England's midweek knockout competition, open to every club in the Premier League and the English Football League. It is a straight knockout from the first round through to a two-legged semi-final and a final at Wembley, which means a League Two side can be ninety minutes from knocking out a Champions League club. Liverpool are the record winners, and the competition has a long habit of throwing up results nobody sensible predicted.
How to Predict EFL Cup Matches
The League Cup has been running since 1960 and has always been the more relaxed of England's two domestic cups, which is precisely what makes it interesting. Managers rotate heavily in the early rounds, academy players get real minutes, and the gap between divisions narrows once a Premier League side fields eight changes away at a full lower-league ground. Extra time has been stripped out of the earlier rounds, so level games go straight to penalties, and ties are decided in one night rather than dragged into replays.
Because form guides mean less than they do in the league. Heavy rotation flattens the quality gap, unfamiliar line-ups produce scrappy low-scoring ties, and shocks are common enough that calling an underdog outcome is a real option rather than a novelty. Goalscorer picks are worth a look too, since a rotated front line often hands a start to a squad player most people have not considered. Points land live on CalledItMate as the game confirms them.
How does the Carabao Cup format work?
It is single-leg knockout football from the first round onwards, with the semi-finals played over two legs and the final at Wembley in the spring. Premier League clubs enter at a later stage than lower-division sides, and clubs in European competition come in later again. Level ties in the early rounds go straight to penalties rather than extra time, so a shoot-out is always on the table when you are predicting a result.
When are Carabao Cup ties played?
Rounds are played midweek, generally Tuesday and Wednesday evenings with kick-offs around 19:45 and 20:00 UK time, and the earlier rounds get spread across both nights. The semi-final legs sit either side of the turn of the year and the final is a Sunday afternoon at Wembley. CalledItMate shows all times in your local zone and opens the match lobby 30 minutes before kick-off.
