The draw for the second round of this season's Carabao Cup will take place on Monday evening, beginning at approximately 7.20pm BST during the pre-match coverage of the Devon derby between Plymouth and Exeter at Home Park.
How to watch the draw
Supporters and clubs can follow the tie allocations live on television via Sky Sports. The draw will be shown on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Ultra HDR, while subscribers will also be able to stream proceedings through the Sky Go app.
The proceedings will be presented on air by Sky host David Prutton, with ex-professionals Jobi McAnuff and Jamie Mackie conducting the ball pulls.
Who enters at round two — and who waits?
Eleven top-flight clubs join the competition at this stage, linking up with the 35 winners from the first round. The mix includes established Premier League names and three newly promoted sides, creating an intriguing blend of fixtures in the regionally organised early rounds.
- Premier League entrants at round two: Chelsea, Tottenham, Brentford, Fulham, Newcastle, Everton, Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Coventry, Ipswich and Hull.
- Clubs remaining absent until round three: those competing in Europe — Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Liverpool in the Champions League; Bournemouth, Sunderland and Crystal Palace in the Europa League; Brighton in the Conference League.
- Relegated sides: West Ham, Burnley and Wolves all began their campaigns in the first round.
The early stages of the competition continue to be regionalised, with the Northern and Southern sections in operation for both the first and second rounds. The tournament only becomes an open national draw from the third round onwards, when the European set join the fray.
Practical details and context
The draw’s timing, tucked into a local derby's build-up, ensures a domestic focus for supporters of lower-league clubs as well as those following the bigger names. Sky's choice of pundits adds a familiar face to proceedings: McAnuff and Mackie are used to these quick-fire, regionally split pulls that can either hand a giant scalp or send a League Two side on a lucrative away day.
For the 11 Premier League clubs entering at round two, the stage presents an early opportunity to build momentum in a knockout format that can be turbulent. For the 35 qualifiers from round one, the draw offers a short-notice test against higher-level opposition or, alternatively, a manageable tie that keeps a cup run alive.
| Round | Entrants | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First | 35 winners + relegated clubs (entered earlier) | Regionalised (North/South) |
| Second | 35 winners + 11 Premier League sides | Regionalised |
| Third | Round two winners + nine European competitors | Open draw, national stage |
For viewers who cannot access Sky's channels, a number of national outlets will run live blogs and minute-by-minute coverage, while club channels and social feeds will also publish tie confirmations as soon as ball numbers are matched to teams.
What to expect from the draw
With the early rounds still split by geography, expect a mix of local derby spice and David versus Goliath narratives. The presence of newly promoted sides — Coventry, Ipswich and Hull — alongside established top-flight clubs ensures there will be storylines to follow. For the nine clubs involved in European competition, the pause until round three preserves fixture flexibility but also guarantees their entry into the tournament at a later, more congested point in the calendar.
When the balls are drawn on Monday evening, clubs and supporters will be able to begin planning travel and logistics immediately — the reward for navigating the early rounds remains a potential route deep into a competition that has produced memorable upsets and lucrative matchdays for lower-league sides.
Coverage begins in the build-up to kick-off at Home Park and the draw itself will commence at about 7.20pm BST.
