Carabao Cup 2019-20: All you need to know about domestic competition

The Carabao Cup, also known as the English Football League Cup, is an annual football competition that takes place in England. It is a knockout competition and comprises of seven rounds. The first five stages progress as single-legged and the semi-finals are played between two legs – home and away matches. The final is played on a Sunday at the Wembley Stadium which is a neutral venue to the teams. The winner of the competition qualifies for the UEFA Europa League.

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Participation

The participation is distributed among the top 4 leagues of the English Football League system. Namely -

• Premier League
• EFL Championship
• EFL League One
• EFL League Two

Premier League clubs start joining the competition from the second round and get mixed in the pool that contains winners from the first round. The fourth round finally culminates into 16 clubs.

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2019-20 season

The first round started on 6 August 2019. A total of 59 matches have been played already. The third round of the Carabao Cup will begin on 25 September 2019. The Premier League teams that enter the competition include defending champions Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Wolverhampton Wanderers. The final will be held on 1 March 2020.

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Previous season

The 2019-20 season was won by City as Pep Guardiola's men defeated Chelsea in the final. Chelsea made it through to the final after beating Tottenham Hotspur. while City made it through by defeating Burton Albion. The final was tied at full-time, however, City managed to win the title in penalties. Bernardo Silva was named the Player of the Match. City's Gabriel Jesus was the top-scorer with 5 goals. After winning the 17-18 season, City successfully defended the title. Guardiola's side later ended up winning the Premier League and FA Cup titles to cap off a fantastic year.

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