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The EFL Cup is the secondary cup competition in England. The 2023/24 edition will begin in August and will conclude with the final at Wembley on February 25.
The EFL Cup, which is also known as the Carabao Cup and the League Cup, was launched in 1960 by Alan Hardaker, the Football League Secretary at the time.
“It must be obvious to all of you that the time has come to do something, and it is up to the Football League to give the lead,” he said of his hopes to revitalize English soccer. The EFL Cup has been held on an annual basis ever since.
The odds for the EFL Cup winner 2023/24 winner have been taken from the FanDuel Sportsbook. Create an account to get $200 in bonus bets when you bet $20.
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Manchester City are the favorites to win the EFL Cup with the best online sportsbooks. They have dominated this competition in recent years, winning six of the last 10 editions - but they fell short in both 2022/23 and 2021/22.
City won a treble of Premier League title, Champions League and FA Cup last season. The strongest side in Europe, it is no surprise they are the favorites to lift the EFL Cup trophy.
If City do not claim the prize, one of Liverpool or Arsenal could capitalize. Newcastle United, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur will also be targeting glory in this competition.
Manchester United were the winners of the EFL Cup 2022/23. The Red Devils beat Aston Villa, Burnley, Charlton Athletic and Nottingham Forest on their way to the final, where they overcame Newcastle 2-0 thanks to goals from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford.
Newcastle reached the final thanks to their victories over Tranmere Rovers, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Leicester City and Southampton prior to the Wembley Stadium showpiece.
Club | Number of Titles |
Liverpool | 9 |
Manchester City | 8 |
Manchester United | 6 |
Chelsea | 5 |
Aston Villa | 5 |
Tottenham Hotspur | 4 |
Nottingham Forest | 4 |
Leicester City | 3 |
Liverpool are the most successful team in the history of the EFL Cup, closely followed by Manchester City. The latter have the chance to move joint-top in the 2023/24 campaign.
Manchester United have won the third-most EFL Cups up to now, followed by Chelsea and Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest, and Leicester City.
Club | Season |
Manchester United | 2022/23 |
Liverpool | 2021/22 |
Manchester City | 2020/21 |
Manchester City | 2019/20 |
Manchester City | 2018/19 |
Manchester City | 2017/18 |
Manchester United | 2016/17 |
Manchester City | 2015/16 |
Chelsea | 2014/15 |
Manchester City | 2013/14 |
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It depends who you ask: the EFL Cup is a major trophy to some clubs and not such a big deal to others. When Swansea City won the competition in 2013, it was arguably the greatest achievement in the club’s history. It was significant the previous year too, when Birmingham City lifted the trophy with a shock win against Arsenal in the final.To the Premier League’s elite, however, the EFL Cup is not as important as other competitions. The Premier League and Champions League are the two most sought-after trophies, followed by the FA Cup and then the EFL Cup.One advantage the EFL Cup has over the FA Cup is its scheduling. The competition is usually finished by the end of February, which encourages big teams to take it seriously as it does not clash with the business end of the season.
Many other European countries, including Spain, Germany and Italy, only have one cup competition. As well as England, there are League Cups in Scotland, Portugal, Wales, the Republic of Ireland, Iceland, Northern Ireland and Israel.In other continents, Argentina, Japan, Uruguay and South Africa are among the countries with a League Cup.
The EFL Cup is a straight knockout tournament featuring seven rounds of one-off matches. The only exception is the semi-finals, which take place over two legs. The first two rounds are regionalized, with participating clubs split into northern and southern sections.Unlike the FA Cup, there are no replays for tied games. Further to this, extra time was abolished for all rounds except the final in 2018/19. A tie after 90 minutes is followed immediately by a penalty shoot-out.
The winners of the EFL Cup are awarded a trophy, a set of medals, £100,000 in prize money and a place in the history books.They also qualify for the Europa Conference League, unless they go on to secure a place in European competition via their Premier League position. In that case, the Europa Conference League place is transferred to the highest-placed Premier League team that has not already qualified for continental competition.
Soccer fans based in the United States can watch the EFL Cup on ESPN+.
Greg Lea is a freelance soccer journalist from London. He is the former editor of The Set Pieces, and has contributed to the Guardian, FourFourTwo, and ESPN. A Crystal Palace fan, he is a long-time subscriber to the belief that it's the taking part that counts. Email: [email protected]
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