The 2022–23 EFL Cup is the 63rd season of the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

(known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons). The competition is open to all clubs participating in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

. The winner of the competition qualifies for the play-off round of the

2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League will be the third season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final will be played at the yet to be announced venue. The winners of ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

were the defending champions, having beaten

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

on penalties to secure a record 9th title in the previous season's

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, but were eliminated by

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in the fourth round.

Access

All 92 clubs in the Premier League and English Football League entered the season's EFL Cup. Access is distributed across the top 4 leagues of the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...

. In the first round, 22 of 24

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

clubs, and all

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

and

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

clubs will enter. The following round, the two remaining Championship clubs, who finished 18th and 19th in the

2021–22 Premier League The 2021–22 Premier League was the 30th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1992, and the 123rd season of top-flight English football overall. The start a ...

season (Burnley and Watford), and the

clubs not involved in either the Champions League,

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...

will enter.

First round

A total of 70 clubs played in the first round: 24 from

(tier 4), 24 from

(tier 3), and 22 from the

(tier 2). The draw for this round was split on a geographical basis into "northern" and "southern" sections. Teams were drawn against a team from the same section.

Northern section

Southern section

Second round

A total of 50 clubs played in the second round: the 35 winners from the first round, the 2 clubs from the

(tier 2) who did not enter in the first round, plus the 13

clubs who were not in European competition. The draw for this round was split on a geographical basis into "northern" and "southern" sections. Teams were drawn against a team from the same section.

Northern section

Southern section

Third round

A total of 32 teams played in the third round.

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

entered in this round due to their participation in either the

2022–23 UEFA Champions League The 2022–23 UEFA Champions League is the 68th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 31st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final will b ...

, the

2022–23 UEFA Europa League The 2022–23 UEFA Europa League is the 52nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 14th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final will be played at the Puská ...

, and the

2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League is the second season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final will be played at Fortuna Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. The winner ...

. The draw was made on 24 August 2022. The third round consisted of 19 clubs from the Premier League, three from the Championship, six from League One and four from League Two. Ties were scheduled to be played in the week commencing 7 November 2022''.''

Fourth round

A total of 16 teams played in the fourth round. League Two side Gillingham was the lowest-ranked team in the draw, which was made on 10 November 2022.

Quarter-finals

A total of eight teams played in the quarter-finals. League One side

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

was the lowest-ranked team in the draw and the only non-Premier League team left.

Semi-finals

A total of four teams, all of them from the Premier League, played in this round.

Summary

''Manchester United won 5–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Newcastle United won 3–1 on aggregate.''

Access

First round

Northern section

Southern section

Second round

Northern section

Southern section

Third round

Fourth round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Summary

Final

Top goalscorers

Notes

References