When is Carabao Cup third round draw? Date, start time, FREE live stream, TV channel, bowls and ball numbers
Find out all about the new pre-draw which is taking place this year
THE Carabao Cup is rolling on into the third round – and the Premier League big boys join the party with the draw taking place TONIGHT.
From this season the third round draw has been hit with an almighty change because of the new Champions League format.
The Carabao Cup third round will be played across two midweeks this term (w/c 16 Sept and w/c 23 Sept) due to the new European schedule.
Carabao Cup third round rule changes
The draw will consist of 32 clubs – 25 winners from the second round with the seven Premier League clubs in European competitions also entering in this round.
For the main draw, this season TWO separate bowls will be used for picking the balls:
- Bowl 1 – the six Champions League and Europa League clubs
- Bowl 2 – the remaining 26 clubs
A pre-draw will take place before Nottingham Forest vs Newcastle United on Wednesday 28 August to determine the home/away positioning of the six clubs in bowl 1 for the first six ties of the main draw.
Then in the main draw, which takes place after the match at the City Ground, the first six ties will be drawn by switching between one club from Bowl 1 and one club from Bowl 2, with the home/away positioning of the clubs from Bowl 1 already pre-determined in the pre-draw.
The remaining ten ties will then be drawn from teams in Bowl 2 only to complete the draw with Bowl 1 sides already picked.
And from this round of the competition, the draw is no longer split into northern and southern sections.
When is the Carabao Cup third round draw?
The Carabao Cup main draw takes place on Wednesday, August 28 following the conclusion of Nottingham Forest vs Newcastle, expected at around 10.15pm BST.
There will be a pre-draw first to determine the home/away positioning of the clubs in the Champions League and the Europa League.
Mark Chapman will host the draws.
How can I watch the Carabao Cup third round draw?
The Carabao Cup third round draw will be televised live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football following Nottingham Forest vs Newcastle.
The draw is also expected to be live streamed for FREE on , as have the first and second round draws this season.
What are the ball numbers?
1 Arsenal
2 Aston Villa
3 Barnsley
4 Barrow
5 Blackpool
6 Bolton Wanderers
7 Brighton & Hove Albion
8 Chelsea
9 Coventry City
10 Crystal Palace
11 Everton
12 Fleetwood Town
13 Fulham
14 Leicester City
15 Leyton Orient
16 Liverpool
17 Manchester City
18 Manchester United
19 Preston North End
20 Queens Park Rangers
21 Sheffield Wednesday
22 Stoke City
23 Tottenham Hotspur
24 Walsall
25 Watford
26 AFC Wimbledon or Ipswich Town
27 Cardiff City or Southampton
28 Colchester United or Brentford
29 Nottingham Forest or Newcastle United
30 Swansea City or Wycombe Wanderers
31 West Ham United or AFC Bournemouth
32 Wolverhampton Wanderers or Burnley