Unai Emery's Aston Villa will find out who they'll face in the Carabao Cup this evening
The Carabao Cup trophy
The Carabao Cup trophy
Aston Villa are in the hat for tonight's Carabao Cup third round draw.
They are joined by fellow European qualifiers from last season: Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle United, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace.
The other 11 Premier League clubs entered the competition in the second round, although West Ham, Bournemouth, Leeds United, and Sunderland have already been knocked out.
As was the case last year, the third round draw will be slightly different due to the expanded formats of both the Champions League and Europa League. Two additional European matchweeks were added to the calendar last season, overlapping with the Carabao Cup third round, which will be played across the weeks commencing September 15 and 22.
Because of this scheduling conflict, Villa cannot draw another side that is competing in either the Champions League or Europa League.
Two draws will take place tonight. The first, which will happen before Manchester United’s trip to Grimsby, will determine whether the European teams will play their third round ties at home or away.
The main draw will follow the match at Blundell Park. It will consist of two separate pots: one containing the European-qualified teams, and the other containing the remaining clubs.
Villa will be drawn in one of the first eight fixtures, alongside the other teams playing in European competitions.
Villa could face one of the following teams in the third round of the Carabao Cup:
Lincoln City
Doncaster Rovers
Wigan Athletic
Bradford City
Burnley
Port Vale
Wrexham
Barnsley
Sheffield Wednesday
Reading
Brentford
Millwall
Wolves
Swansea City
Wycombe Wanderers
Cardiff City
Cambridge United
Southampton
Crystal Palace
Huddersfield Town
Everton or Mansfield
Grimsby or Manchester United
Oxford United or Brighton
Fulham or Bristol City
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