The Carabao Cup third round draw was set in motion on Wednesday evening as the Premier League's clubs involved in European competition finally entered the fray, following a pre-draw procedure designed to keep them apart in the early stages.
Manchester City, who lift the trophy as holders, along with Arsenal, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Sunderland and Crystal Palace all discovered whether they would play at home or away before the full draw was completed later that evening. These eight clubs are competing in either the Champions League or Europa League this season, and EFL rules prevented them from being paired against one another in round three to avoid fixture congestion caused by their continental commitments.
The pre-draw process saw balls numbered one to eight assigned to Bournemouth, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Sunderland respectively. The results delivered home ties for six of the eight sides, with only Arsenal and Aston Villa forced to travel. Manchester City, Manchester United, Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Bournemouth and Liverpool were all handed home advantage.
Explaining the reasoning behind the process, the EFL stated: "As Uefa competition fixtures cannot be rescheduled, and to enable the Carabao Cup to proceed within its agreed schedule without disrupting other League or domestic cup fixtures, the additional conditions will ensure that the eight clubs participating in the Champions League or Europa League cannot meet each other in Round Three of the Carabao Cup. This will mean that the teams drawn in each tie will be able to fulfil the fixture in one of the allocated weeks."
The main draw, pairing these eight clubs with the remaining teams left in the competition, followed the conclusion of Wednesday's second-round fixtures. The picture was completed after Chelsea's visit to Luton and Fulham's trip to AFC Wimbledon on Thursday, which brought the second round to a close.
Third-round matches are scheduled across two separate weeks, beginning on 7 September and continuing on 14 September, with all fixtures played as single-leg midweek ties. The winners of each tie will progress into the fourth round of the competition.
Elsewhere in the second round, Everton manager David Moyes prepared for a sentimental return to Preston North End, the club where he finished his playing career and later managed before taking charge at Goodison Park. Reflecting on his development there under the influence of Sir Tom Finney, the 63-year-old Scot said he believed young coaches were better served learning their trade in the lower leagues rather than being thrust into difficult jobs too early.
"It was a brilliant experience for me and I would be recommending to all the young coaches that you are better to go earn your stripes and try and find a way through the leagues than being thrown in where it is difficult at the start," Moyes said. "I was really fortunate that I had been a player there, assistant manager or coach as well and when I got the job I had a little bit of knowledge of the club that maybe the players needed and it was a great learning experience. A brilliant club to go to."
Moyes made three changes to his Everton side that beat Crystal Palace at the weekend, welcoming back James Garner from injury for the trip to Deepdale. Elsewhere in Wednesday's second-round action, Tottenham handed a debut appearance from the bench to new signing Savio against Charlton, while Matheus Fernandes made his home bow. Newcastle United gave midfielder Bazoumana Toure his first competitive start against West Brom, with Nick Woltemade preferred to Yoane Wissa in attack following the Magpies' 2-2 draw with Liverpool at the weekend.
Based on reporting from The Independent.