Carabao Cup fourth round: 16 teams battle for a quarter‑final spot

A bright flash lights up the hall as Leila Coker takes the official photo of the draw. The fourth round of the Carabao Cup is set: sixteen remaining teams are fighting for a place in the quarter‑finals, which will be played at Wembley Stadium on March 21.

Start and Participants of the Tournament

The 67th edition of the Carabao Cup began in August and includes clubs from the Premier League, the EFL Championship, League One and League Two. In total, 16 teams are competing for the coveted final ticket.

The first two rounds were relatively low‑key, before numerous Premier League favourites entered in the third round. In the third stage, last year’s finalist Arsenal comfortably beat Ipswich Town, while Liverpool eliminated Tottenham Hotspur decisively.

Manchester United suffered a surprising home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. Defending champions Manchester City are seen as the clear favourite and are expected to progress on Thursday against Norwich City.

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Tensions and Schedule of the Fourth Round

The fourth round features high‑profile duels, including Liverpool versus Chelsea, marking Xabi Alonso’s first return to Anfield. The full fixture list for late October has already been released.

The matches take place in the week of October 26. Clubs such as Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and probably also Manchester City have to balance the Carabao Cup with their commitments in the Premier League and the Champions League.

Bournemouth, Sunderland and Crystal Palace face the same challenge, but with the Europa League. Brighton is the sole representative of the Conference League, yet after the epic comeback against United the packed schedule will not be an obstacle.

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The mentioned clubs have to play a total of six matches across all competitions in just three weeks of October following the newly combined international break. This significantly increases the workload on the squads.