Carabao Cup action takes place this week with several London sides in action.placeholder image
Carabao Cup action takes place this week with several London sides in action. | Getty Images
Several of London’s biggest clubs are in Carabao Cup action this week
This midweek sees Carabao Cup fourth-round action take place up and down the country, and it could prove to be a successful week for London sides as six of the best the capital has to offer all aim for a place in the last eight of the competition.
With no two London outfits facing each other, it is conceivable that all six could make the quarter-finals and multiple beyond that. It has been 10 years since the last time a London club won the League Cup, being Chelsea against Spurs in 2015. The Blues have lost in the final three times since then, Arsenal and Spurs earning the silver medal once apiece.
Any of the trio would welcome a much-awaited domestic trophy to add to the cabinet, whilst glory would be even bigger for Brentford, Fulham or Crystal Palace. The Bees and the Cottagers have already secured their place in the last eight, overcoming Manchester United’s giant-killers Grimsby Town and League One outfit Wycombe Wanderers respectively on Tuesday night.
How much prize money is at stake in the Carabao Cup tonight?
The Carabao Cup’s total prize money for the 2025/26 season has been revealed by SalaryLeaks, detailing the winnings available at each stage of the competition. For winning sides in the fourth round, there is £15,000 in prize money per team to total in an £120,000 prize pot for the eight sides who make it through. Earning £15,000 for one result seems a pretty good deal.
The prize money available naturally increases round on round, with £10,000 handed out to winning sides in the third round and £25,000 in the quarter-finals, and so on. While these may appear to be relatively modest amounts of money in comparison with the vast transfer fees thrown around in today’s game, it all adds up to a substantial prize for the winners of the Carabao Cup final in 2026.
How much could Arsenal, Chelsea or Tottenham earn for winning the Carabao Cup?
While prize money is not the primary target when looking to win a cup competition, it is more than a beneficial bonus. There is a huge total prize pot available to the winners of this season’s competition, which any of the six London sides still involved will believe they have a strong chance of securing in the spring.
The winners of the competition will be rewarded with an eye-watering £187,000 for getting through all seven rounds of the competition to seal glory in the final, which alongside the trophy is an impressive prize.
This is heavily weighted towards the competition winners though, as £100,000 of that total is awarded for victory in the final - the runners-up will earn £50,000 for a total of £137,000, while beaten semi-finalists can only gain a maximum of £87,000.
These totals do not include gate revenue earnt across the competition, though - the statistics detail that around £2.5 million is earnt from gate receipts at the Wembley final alone, with £2.2m of this shared equally between the two finalists regardless of the result.
London’s top sides will need no second invitation to seek Carabao Cup glory this season and add another trophy to the cabinet. But with the financial rewards at stake, they might just have an extra motivation.
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