What is the Carabao Cup 3rd round pre-draw?

THE Carabao Cup third round draw takes place tonight. But before the main draw following Everton’s clash with Preston, there is a pre-draw. There is a pre-draw ahead of the main draw for the third round Credit: Getty Man City won the Carabao Cup last season by beating Arsenal in the final Credit: Getty The pre-draw will feature just eight teams and decide whether they will play at home or away. Plenty of fans have slammed the format of the competition and made unfounded claims that it is “rigged”. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! What is the Carabao Cup 3rd round pre-draw? The pre-draw will only include the Premier League teams that have qualified for the Champions League or Europa League. It means only Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Bournemouth, Sunderland and Crystal Palace are in the hat. The draw decides whether each club will play their third round tie at home or away. Why is there a Carabao Cup 3rd round pre-draw? Following the expansion and revamp of the Champions League and Europa League, there is a scheduling headache for the Carabao Cup. Third round games will be played in midweek on either the weeks commencing September 7 or September 14. The Champions League begins on September 8 and the Europa League on September 16. Most read in Sport If the eight English teams involved were to draw each other there would be no available date to play the game. They are therefore seeded in the main draw. Brighton, who are competing in the Conference League this season, are not in the pre-draw as the tournament does not start until October 15. When is the Carabao Cup 3rd round draw? The pre-draw takes place on Sky Sports Main Event during the build-up of Preston vs Everton. The main draw follows the match at approximately 10pm BST. Comment now