Newcastle United is seeking to defend their championship, and the EFL has announced the dates for the Carabao Cup this season. The northeast region is of particular interest.
Newcastle United will, of course, be the defending champions of the Carabao Cup this season, having defeated Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley in March. The Magpies achieved their first trophy in history by defeating four Premier League opponents.
Meanwhile, Liverpool was required to play one fewer match than the Magpies due to their participation in European competition. Additionally, they were a seeded team when they entered the competition in Round Three. To prevent fixture congestion, the European competitions were restructured to ensure that the teams that competed in Europe last term were kept apart in Round Three.
Newcastle United will benefit from this seeding procedure in the 2025/26 competition, as they secured Champions League football on the final day of the Premier League season. The Magpies will be joined by five other English teams in that competition, resulting in a total of nine clubs playing European football of some form next season.
The EFL has been compelled to implement a preliminary round for the Carabao Cup in the upcoming season, as nine clubs are currently contending in Europe. To ensure that the numbers in each round are balanced when the nine teams competing in Europe join the competition in Round Three, Accrington Stanley, who finished 21st in League Two last season, will face Oldham Athletic, who were recently promoted, and Barnet, who won the Vanarama National League, will face Newport County, who finished 22nd in League Two.
EFL has announced the dates of the Carabao Cup.
It is possible that opponents have already played three games by the time the reigning champions enter the Carabao Cup in Round Three, albeit a minor possibility. In Round One, League Two, League One, and Championship teams will be joined by the two victors of the Preliminary Round.
Newcastle & Co. will enter the competition a round later, after Premier League teams that are not competing in Europe join the competition in Round Two. As previously stated, the Magpies will not be playing any of the other eight teams that have qualified for Europe in Round Three.
The round will be contested over two weeks, beginning on either the 15th or 22nd of September. The Champions League league stage began the previous week, and as a result, Newcastle United’s game in that round will be contested on the week commencing September 22.
Sky Sports Football will broadcast 19 matches throughout the entire competition. Every other Carabao Cup match will be broadcast on Sky Sports +.
Preliminary Round: by August 4, 2025
w/c 11 August 2025: Round One
Round Two: August 25, 2025
The third round will take place between September 15 and September 22, 2025, and Newcastle United will be participating at this stage.
w/c October 27, 2025: Round Four
Round Five will conclude on December 15, 2025.
Semi-Final First Leg: January 12, 2026
w/c February 2, 2026: Semi-Final Second Leg
Final date: March 22, 2026.
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