Carabao Cup Predictions & Betting tips

Find our free Carabao Cup prediction on the final winner, as well as our expert predictions on the 2025-2026 League Cup matches. Lots of information for your sports betting.

Carabao Cup presentation and predictions

The Carabao Cup is considered the secondary cup competition in English football. It doesn't have the long history of the FA Cup having not been launched until 1960. It's still an important trophy to win and last season saw Newcastle end their 70-year domestic trophy drought when they beat Liverpool 2-1 to lift the trophy.

The final takes place at Wembley with the winners earning a place in the Europa Conference League, unless qualified for one of the other European competitions. From the first round in August to the final in March 2026, our team of betting experts will be providing free betting tips to help you with your football predictions.

Bet on the Carabao Cup with Bet365

League Cup prediction: who won the 2025-26 Carabao Cup?

We arrived to the final of the 2025-26 Carabao Cup with England's two best teams squaring off. While it's shaping up to be a very promising season for Arsenal, Mikel Arteta and the Gunners were second best at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final. After a strong first 20 minutes, Arsenal's attacking threat faded while Man City gradually began to grow into the game. The second half was all City with a Nico O'Reilly double in the span of four minutes ultimately sealing a 2-0 victory for the Citizens.

It marks the fifth time that Pep Guardiola has lifted the Carabao Cup. With rumours swirling that this might be the Guardiola's last season at the helm, it would be poetic that he go out as a champion in the competition in which he won his first piece of silverware as Manchester City manager. Be sure to check back next season for our 2026-27 Carabao Cup prediction!

Beginners Guide - How the Carabao Cup works?

How does this competition differ from the FA Cup? Well, this is the English Football League (EFL) Cup (currently sponsored by Carabao) and is contested between the 92 teams in the Premier League and English Football League. There are no non-league teams in this competition unlike in the FA Cup. 

The first round is contested between sides in the Championship, League One and League Two. Premier League sides who are not in European competition enter at the second round stage. Those sides who are playing in Europe don’t begin their campaigns until the third round.

All games are played over one leg until the semi-finals. They’re played over two legs, another difference from the FA Cup. There are no replays in this competition with matches that are level being decided by a penalty shootout.

The final is played at Wembley and will be decided on the day. If the game is level after extra time, then it’s penalty shootout time. Here are the dates for your diary:

• Third round: September 15th and 22nd
• Fourth Round - October 27th
• Quarter Finals - December 15th
• Semi Finals first leg - January 12th, 2026
• Semi Finals second leg - February 2nd, 2026
• Final - March 25th, 2026

2025-26 Carabao Cup final preview

The League Cup is the first chance of the season for teams to win silverware and we're down to the final! There are two big name teams left, which should make for a dramatic match in this tournament. The match is set to be played on 22 March:

• Manchester City vs Arsenal

Manchester City fans will be pleased to get another win in a competition where they success often. Arsenal are the in-form team in the country at the moment but could be in for a tricky evening against a really tough City side, which is chasing them in Premier League too. However, being at Wembley should see the two teams give everything,and offer a great final match-up to conclude this competition.

How to make good predictions on the Carabao Cup?

If your desire is to make winning Carabao Cup predictions, a good knowledge of how clubs treat the competition is advisable. Our previews will help guide you in the right direction. The factors listed below are all considered to be very important by our team of betting experts.

• Check the form of each club taking part during Carabao Cup
• Look at the fixture list of the English clubs
• Make sure you know the team news
• How important is the match to each club?
• Be aware of the latest statistics during Carabao Cup

These five factors will help you make successful Carabao Cup predictions. Let’s now look at each of them in a little more depth.

Check the form of each club taking part during Carabao Cup

Backing sides that are out of form is never a good idea. It’s slightly different with the Carabao Cup though. The key fact that we can’t stress enough is that clubs will play a much weakened line-up for the cup games, at least until the latter stages of the competition. This means the line-up that might be losing Premier League games or winning lots of them won’t be the one that is fielded for the Carabao Cup match. This was shown in the 2023-24 season when Nottingham Forest and Southampton were both battling relegation but reached the last four of the Carabao Cup. It’s best therefore to look at how clubs have fared in previous Carabao Cup competitions. 

Look at the fixture list of the English clubs

A busy fixture list will further influence the team selections of clubs playing in the Carabao Cup. Not just for Premier League sides but those in the Championship too. If there’s a big game to play at the weekend, then that will mean it’s even less likely that top players will be playing in the Carabao Cup game, especially if it’s against a side from a lower division. Pay attention to the fixture list at all times.

Make sure you know the team news

Again, we have to stress that the team line-ups will be a lot weaker than those fielded in the Premier League or Championship. This might change in the latter stages but definitely not in the early rounds. Make sure you know the players who will be appearing in the Carabao Cup game. This will influence your bets, especially ones for goalscoring markets. Leaving placing your bets until the lineups are confirmed is a good idea (usually released one hour before kickoff). Also, look at the strength of a club’s squad. Will fielding a weaker side seriously affect their chances of winning the game? It might do for Luton or Sheffield United but not so much for Manchester City or Arsenal.

How important is the match to each club?

A lot of the top Premier League clubs wouldn’t shed a tear if the Carabao Cup was scrapped. Others see it as their only chance to win a trophy and there’s a European place for grabs so they consider this an important competition. That’s why so many team changes are made for this competition. What is considered more important for a top club? A Carabao Cup game against a League One side or a big Premier League game at the weekend? The latter is going to be more vital to them unless it’s the latter stages of the Carabao Cup with a Wembley final possible.

For the lower league sides, the Carabao Cup is important. A good cup run can boost their finances so they will be keen to get as far as they can. 

Be aware of the latest statistics during Carabao Cup

Knowing the key statistics is always going to be helpful. When the team lineups are confirmed, look at how the chosen players have been getting on in recent weeks. Are the strikers scoring goals or struggling to find the back of the net? How have defenders been getting on in recent weeks? Do the visitors struggle on their travels or are they getting good results? How has the home club been playing in recent weeks? All vital information that can help you make winning bets. 

Bet on the Carabao Cup with Bet365

What not to do for your Carabao Cup predictions

When you are making your Carabao Cup predictions, there are betting behaviours that you should look to avoid. These can hinder the chances of your bets being successful. Here are the main ones we feel you should not be doing:

• Not analysing the match
• Take into account only a club's prestige and not its form
• Not analysing the odds on offer and missing the most attractive one
• Betting on a Carabao Cup without working out how important the game is to each club
• Chasing losses - never a good idea.
• Placing bets when either tired or upset
• Betting on bookmakers' boosted odds without carrying out an analysis
• Betting repeatedly on your favourite team
• Don’t forget this is a cup competition and upsets will happen.

Sometimes it is easy to fall into these behaviours. Always put a lot of thought into every bet that you place. Don’t bet when you are upset or tired as this will affect your ability to make the right  decisions. Bet carefully, avoid these bad habits and you should be able to do well with your Carabao Cup bets.

Carabao Cup: statistics you need to know to bet on the matches

When betting on any competition, statistics play a major role in deciding what prediction to make. Our betting experts spend hours looking up the statistics that they feel will greatly help our readers. Let’s take a look at statistics from the recently completed 2024-25 Carabao Cup:

• Home wins: 48%
• Draws: 16%
• Away wins: 35%
• Average goals: 3.24 goals per game
• +0.5 goals: 98%
• -0.5 goals: 2%
• +1.5 goals: 85%
• -1.5 goals: 15%
• +2.5 goals: 60%
• -2.5 goals: 40%
• +3.5 goals: 35%
• -3.5 goals: 65%
• +4.5 goals: 25%
• -4.5 goals: 75%
• Goal timing distribution: 76-90 minutes (21%)
• First half goals: 44%
• Second half goals: 56%
• Average home team goals: 1.83
• Average away team goals: 1.41
• “Both teams to score: yes”: 54% of matches
• Average shots per match: 18.45 shots
• Wins by 2 goals or more (handicap): 44.1% of matches
• Correct score 0-0: 2.2% of matches
• Correct score 1-1: 11.9% of matches
• Most frequent score: 2-1 or 1-2 (16.3% of games)

There were a couple of interesting trends to take note of in the previous Carabao Cup campaign. Most notably, the home team win percentage rose from 39% in 2023-24 up to 48% in 2024-25. There was also an increase in the total goals scored per match, rising from 2.95 to 3.24. Naturally, this resulted in over 2.5 hitting at a strong 60% rate in the previous season.

It's safe to say the previous season of the Carabao Cup saw plenty of action. In fact, only 2.2% of games finished goalless! Based on last season, the BTTS + over 2.5 goals market could be an interesting one to keep an eye on for the upcoming campaign. Of course, you'll want to do your research and ensure that both teams having sufficient attacking quality and that the sides have both been scoring (and conceding) goals. Something to keep in mind for your future bets!

In short: how to predict Carabao Cup matches?

Let's summarize how you can make successful Carabao Cup bets. Make sure you accept the fact that the line-ups will be weaker than those fielded for league games, especially in the early stages of the competition. Check the team line-ups, the form of the players chosen and how sides have fared in previous Carabao Cup competitions. If you haven't got the time to do all these, read the previews of our experts as they will be packed with vital information.

Bet on the Carabao Cup with Bet365

Our Carabao Cup Predictions of the moment

Our Carabao Cup predictions and betting tips will be available soon. Check back regularly for the latest insights.

Carabao Cup: best odds to bet

Take a look at our Carabao Cup odds before placing your bets on the competition. You can also follow the matches live on our Carabao Cup Livescores page.