Carabao Cup 2026-27: West Ham, Leicester, Burnley and Wolves Begin Life After Relegation This Weekend
by Geoffrey Ejiga | by Cydias Aujard
The Season Starts Before the Season
The Premier League does not begin until later this month, but the English football season is already underway. The Carabao Cup preliminary round was played last weekend, and this weekend's first round brings 70 clubs into the competition for the opening knockout stage of the 67th edition of the League Cup.
First-round ties are scheduled across the opening weekend of August. What’s more, the draw is regionalised into Northern and Southern sections until the third round, where the nine Premier League clubs involved in European competition join the field.
Four Fallen Giants and the Ties That Tell Their Stories
The first round is usually a low-profile affair dominated by League One and League Two sides. This year is different. Four clubs relegated from the Premier League last season enter the competition carrying reputations and wage bills that dwarf their surroundings.
West Ham welcome Portsmouth to the London Stadium.
A ground built for European football and Premier League title challenges will host a Championship fixture on Saturday afternoon, barely three months after the Hammers' final day in the top flight. Check out our West Ham vs Portsmouth prediction before you bet.
Leicester, a club that lifted the Premier League trophy just ten years ago, are now in League One and face Northampton at home.
It is a measure of how far and how fast the Foxes have fallen. Burnley and Wolves, the other two relegated sides, were both handed home draws and will be expected to navigate their ties comfortably, though the competition's history is full of early upsets that suggest otherwise.
Local Derbies Add Spice to the First Round
Beyond the relegation stories, the draw produced several fixtures with genuine local edge. Plymouth host Exeter in a Devon derby that always carries more intensity than the division suggests.
Millwall travel to QPR in a South London rivalry that needs no introduction. And Swansea face Birmingham in a tie between two Championship sides who will both fancy their chances of progressing.
And while a new rivalry, the Middlesbrough vs Wrexham match should produce end-to-end action, just as it did last season when both teams scored in both meetings.
The Preliminary Round: Already a Classic
The season's first competitive action has already produced a moment for the ages. Tranmere Rovers hosted Rochdale on August 1 in the preliminary round, and after a 2-2 draw, the match went to penalties.
Tranmere missed four consecutive spot-kicks, allowing Rochdale to win 2-1 in what fans online quickly labelled the worst penalty shootout in memory.
Rochdale now travel to Bradford in the first round. Meanwhile, the second preliminary tie saw Crawley Town beat York City 2-0, with Gianmarco Di Biase, a summer signing from Juventus, opening the scoring in a composed team performance. Crawley face Watford in the first round.
The Road to Wembley
Manchester City are the defending champions after beating Arsenal 2-0 in the March 2026 final. And that result that gave Pep Guardiola's side their ninth League Cup title, second only to Liverpool's ten in the all-time list.
City enter at the third-round stage alongside Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brighton, Sunderland and Crystal Palace. The remaining 11 Premier League clubs join at round two.
The winner qualifies for the 2027-28 Conference League playoff round.
