EFL confirms Carabao Cup draw ‘error’ involving Manchester City & Newcastle United

The EFL have acknowledged the brutal blunder made in Wednesday nights Carabao Cup third round draw which resulted in Manchester City drawing Newcastle away from home.

The draw for the third round took place after the final second round clashes came to an end on Wednesday night, with both Newcastle and Man City entering the draw at this stage after impressive campaigns in 2022-23. 

The Magpies in fact reached the final of the competition last time out, only to fall to a 2-0 defeat to Manchester United at Wembley, while City completed a historic Treble, winning the FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League.

With the ball numbers usually handed out in alphabetical order, Newcastle might have expected to be handed the No 19, rather than No 20, with Norwich inexplicably taking No 19 despite coming after the Magpies in the alphabet. 

That would have seen Norwich host Man City while Newcastle would face a trip to fellow Premier League side Fulham.

And the EFL have acknowledged the error but have denied any impact on the competition’s integrity, thus confirming the draw as valid.

The EFL have taken responsibility for a small error during the third-round draw of the League Cup but a spokesperson has declared the blunder does not throw the integrity of the draw into question – meaning there is satisfaction with all ties that came out of the hat. The small mess-up involved Newcastle and Norwich City who were handed ties against Manchester City and Fulham respectively next month.

An EFL spokesperson said via Express Sport: “The numbers for the Round Three draw of the Carabao Cup were allocated and communicated in advance of the draw taking place on Wednesday evening and were drawn in-line with the usual strict protocols and conditions.

“The League accepts that the list published was not in alphabetical order, however, under Cup rules, the draw does not require for numbers to be allocated on that basis as is demonstrated by those teams who progressed on Wednesday night.

“As a result, the EFL views the draw as completely valid with no impact to competition integrity.”