Carabao Cup first-round draw in full sees epic replay of Sunderland’s League One play-off and huge Championship clash
SUNDERLAND will take on Sheffield Wednesday in a repeat of their League One play-off semi-final in the first round of this season's Carabao Cup.
The draw for the opening round of the tournament took place on Thursday afternoon.
And another huge tie to be drawn out of the hat was Sheffield United vs West Brom as two big Championship sides face off for a place in the second round.
Other big matches in the first round include newly-relegated Norwich hosting Birmingham, while Cardiff host Portsmouth - with the potential for shock transfer target Gareth Bale to line up for the Welsh side.
QPR travel to Charlton, with Gary Neville's Salford City facing League One Bolton.
First-round ties will take place on the week commencing August 8.
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That means the Carabao Cup will get underway just days after the return of domestic football in England.
All of the country's top four leagues begin on either the final week of July or first week of August - with the first Premier League match on August 5 between Crystal Palace and Arsenal.
However, top flight teams will not enter the Carabao Cup until the second round.
Then clubs who have qualified for the Champions League or Europa League will enter the draw in the third round.
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Liverpool are the defending champions after they beat Chelsea on penalties in last season's final.
They ended a run of Manchester City winning the competition on four successive occasions.
Full draw:
- Blackburn vs Hartlepool
- Harrogate vs Stockport
- Bolton vs Salford City
- Morecambe vs Stoke
- Blackpool vs Barrow
- West Brom vs Sheffield United
- Sheffield Wednesday vs Sunderland
- Grimsby vs Crewe
- Mansfield vs Derby
- Accrington vs Tranmere
- Middlesbrough vs Barnsley
- Bradford vs Hull
- Rochdale vs Burton
- Doncaster vs Lincoln
- Shrewsbury vs Carlisle
- Port Vale vs Rotherham
- Fleetwood vs Wigan
- Norwich vs Birmingham
- Coventry vs Bristol City
- Northampton vs Wycombe
- Cardiff vs Portsmouth
- Charlton vs QPR
- Crawley vs Bristol Rovers
- Walsall vs Swindon
- Ipswich vs Colchester
- Luton vs Newport
- Reading vs Stevenage
- Plymouth vs Peterborough
- AFC Wimbledon vs Gillingham
- Cheltenham vs Exeter
- MK Dons vs Sutton
- Forest Green vs Leyton Orient
- Cambridge vs Millwall
- Oxford vs Swansea