Aston Villa will be playing in the Carabao Cup in the third round next month and will find out their opponents this week
Carabao Cup trophy
Watching brief... Villa and the Carabao Cup (Image: Getty Images)
Aston Villa will watch with interest from afar this week as the second round of the Carabao Cup competition plays out. Villa will enter at the third round, alongside their European counterparts, a list which includes holders Newcastle United and FA Cup winners Crystal Palace.
Because of the substantial number of teams representing England across UEFA's three competitions this season - Nottingham Forest are joined by regulars Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur as well as the above trio - a preliminary round in the cup was required.
That was played out by Oldham Athletic, Barnet, Newport County and Accrington Stanley in the first week of August, before the first round proper kicked off; that involved all clubs from the Championship downwards taking part, during which time a host of sides were wiped out at the first hurdle - including ten from the Championship.
Villa will keep an eye this week as the 23 ties are played across Tuesday and Wednesday; the competition for the opening rounds is regionalised, and there'll be 12 ties in the northern section and 11 ties in the southern section this week, before the draw for the third round opens up and any side can play any other club involved.
The third round will be played across the weeks commencing the 15th and the 22nd of September, depending on the European commitments of the sides involved in those tournaments on the continent - Villa, are yet to learn their Europa League opponents and set of fixtures, will begin their Cup campaign on either the 16th or 17th.
It's expected, though - while not confirmed - that the draw for the third round of the Carabao Cup will take place on Wednesday 27 August (tomorrow) - certainly based on the second round draw, which took place on the Wednesday of the first round game week, it could even be drawn prior to the matches on Wednesday.
For what it's worth, Birmingham City are favourites to progress when they host League One Port Vale at St Andrew's on Tuesday evening; Villa and Blues last played each other in this competition in 2015 when Rudy Gestede scored the only goal at Villa Park.
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