The 2026/27 Carabao Cup got underway on Thursday night, a week earlier than in previous seasons, as League Two side Walsall pulled off a surprise 1-0 win over Championship club Bristol City at Ashton Gate.
The early start marks a significant change to the competition's traditional calendar. In past years, the first round of Carabao Cup fixtures has been staged in the midweek slot immediately following the opening weekend of Championship, League One and League Two matches. This time, after discussions with EFL clubs, organizers agreed to move the competition forward by a week in an effort to reduce fixture congestion for teams across the divisions.
The change comes amid a broader restructuring of the tournament's opening stages. A preliminary round was already required this season due to nine English clubs competing in European competitions, with Rochdale defeating Tranmere and Crawley overcoming York in those ties.
The Walsall-Bristol City clash itself was subject to a late scheduling adjustment. The fixture was originally set for Friday but was brought forward a day to avoid a clash with the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, meaning the 2026/27 Carabao Cup effectively began 24 hours ahead of its planned start.
Organizers say the overall goal of shifting the competition's timeline is to give players additional rest compared to previous campaigns, when clubs often faced the demanding prospect of three matches within a single week. Under the revised format, the remaining 34 first-round fixtures will be spread across four days, from Friday through Monday, resulting in a full round of Carabao Cup matches being played over a weekend for the first time this century.
The first round features clubs from the Championship, League One and League Two, including three sides who suffered relegation from the Premier League last season - West Ham, Burnley and Wolves - all of whom enter the competition at this early stage.
Eleven Premier League clubs will join the competition in the second round, among them London rivals Tottenham and Chelsea, neither of whom are involved in European competition this season.
Defending champions Manchester City, who beat Arsenal at Wembley last season to lift the trophy, will not begin their title defense until the third round. They will be joined at that stage by the eight other Premier League clubs involved in UEFA competitions this term: Arsenal, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Sunderland, Brighton and Crystal Palace.
The draw for the second round is scheduled for Monday, August 10, and will be conducted during the build-up to the Devon derby between Plymouth and Exeter, which is being broadcast live on Sky Sports.
The revamped calendar reflects ongoing efforts by English football's governing bodies to balance an increasingly crowded fixture list, particularly for clubs juggling domestic cup commitments alongside league campaigns and, in some cases, European assignments. With the format now spreading first-round matches across an extended weekend window rather than compressing them into a single midweek slot, clubs at the lower end of the professional pyramid may benefit from slightly more breathing room early in the season.
Attention now turns to the remaining first-round fixtures being played through Monday, before focus shifts to the second-round draw and the entry of Premier League sides not involved in Europe.
Based on reporting from standard-football.