2017–18 EFL Cup

2017–18 EFL Cup
Carabao Cup, League Cup
Country  England
 Wales
Dates 8 August 2017 – 25 February 2018
Teams 92
Champions Manchester City (5th title)
Runners-up Arsenal
Matches played 87
Goals scored 258 (2.97 per match)
Attendance 1,454,812 (16,722 per match)
Top goal scorer(s) Josh Murphy
Samuel Sáiz
Islam Slimani
(4 goals each)

The 2017–18 EFL Cup was the 58th season of the EFL Cup. The competition was open to all 92 clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League. It was known as the Carabao Cup due to the start of a sponsorship deal with Carabao Energy Drinks after the tournament was unsponsored the previous year.[1] The final took place at Wembley Stadium in London.

Manchester City won their fifth title after a 3–0 win over Arsenal in the final.[2]

Manchester United were the defending champions, but they were eliminated by Bristol City in the fifth round.[3]

Access

All 92 clubs in the top four divisions of English football participate. In the first round, all the clubs in EFL League Two and EFL League One will enter alongside 22 of the 24 EFL Championship teams except for Hull City and Middlesbrough who received byes to the next round as the highest finishing teams relegated from the 2016–17 Premier League.[4] In the second round, all Premier League clubs not involved in European competition enter. Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur all received byes to the third round owing to their participation in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.[5]

In June 2017, the English Football League announced that the draw for the first round of the competition would be held in Bangkok, Thailand, as a result of their new sponsorship deal with Thai company Carabao.[4] There were plans for the 2017–18 EFL Cup to trial video assistant referees during matches in their first use in England. However the plans were scrapped due to a delay and would instead be trialled in the 2017–18 FA Cup from the third round instead.[6]

Distribution

  • Clubs involved in European competition entered at the third round.
  • The remaining Premier League clubs and two Championship clubs who finished 18th and 19th in Premier League the previous season entered at the second round.
  • The remaining English Football League clubs entered at the first round.[7]
Clubs entering in this round Clubs advancing from previous round
First round
(70 clubs)
  • 24 clubs from EFL League Two
  • 24 clubs from EFL League One
  • 22 clubs from EFL Championship
  • N/A
Second round
(50 clubs)
  • 2 clubs from EFL Championship
  • 13 Premier League clubs (not involved in European competition)
  • 35 winners from first round
Third round
(32 clubs)
  • 7 Premier League clubs (involved in European competition)
  • 25 winners from second round
Fourth round
(16 clubs)
  • No other entries
  • 16 winners from third round
Fifth round
(8 clubs)
  • No other entries
  • 8 winners from fourth round
Semi-finals
(4 clubs)
  • No other entries
  • 4 winners from fifth round
Final
(2 clubs)
  • No other entries
  • 2 winners from semi-finals

First round

Entry

A total of 70 clubs played in the first round: 24 from League Two (tier 4), 24 from League One (tier 3), and 22 from the Championship (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.[7]

Matches

The first round draw was made as follows:[8]

Note: The numbers in parentheses are the tier for the team during the 2017–18 season.

Second round

Entry

A total of 50 clubs played in the second round: 15 that entered in this round and the 35 winners from the first round. The 15 clubs entering this round were the 13 clubs from the 2017–18 Premier League not involved in any European competition, plus two clubs from the EFL Championship. The two clubs from the Championship are the two clubs that finished 18th and 19th in the 2016–17 Premier League. The draw for the second round was held on 10 August 2017 and was split on a geographical basis into 'northern' and 'southern' sections. Teams were drawn against a team from the same section.[7][12]

Matches

The second round draw was made as follows:[13]

Note: The numbers in parentheses are the tier for the team during the 2017–18 season.

Third round

Entry

A total of 32 clubs played in the third round: seven that entered in this round and the 25 winners from the second round. The clubs entering in this round were the seven from the 2017–18 Premier League involved in European competition. The draw for the third round was held on 24 August 2017.[14]

Matches

The third round draw was made as follows:[15]

Note: The numbers in parentheses are the tier for the team during the 2017–18 season.

Fourth round

Entry

A total of 16 clubs played in the fourth round, all winners from the third round. The draw for the fourth round was held on 20 September 2017.[16]

Matches

The fourth round draw was made as follows:[17]

Fifth round

Entry

A total of eight clubs played in the fifth round, all winners from the fourth round. The fifth round draw was held on 26 October 2017.[18]

Matches

Semi-finals

Entry

A total of four clubs played in the semi-finals, all winners of the fifth round. There was no seeding in this round and the draw was held on 20 December. [19]

Matches

The semi-finals were played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored the most goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the final. If the aggregate score was level after 90 minutes in the second leg of a semi-final two 15-minute periods of extra time were played each way. If the aggregate score in a semi-final was still level at the end of extra time the tie was decided by the away goals rule, i.e. the team that scored most goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If a semi-final tie was still level, the result was determined by a penalty shoot-out.

The lowest ranked side to reach this stage of the competition was Championship club Bristol City.

First leg

Second leg

Final

The final was played on 25 February 2018 at Wembley Stadium.

Arsenal 0–3 Manchester City
Report
Attendance: 85,671
Referee: Craig Pawson

Controversies regarding draws

There were a number of errors in the draw for the first round. Many fans experienced problems with the sound on the live stream from Thailand, therefore relying on the graphics. However, there were also a number of errors with the graphics: Charlton Athletic were shown to be drawn in two ties, while a number of other teams including AFC Wimbledon, Brentford, Swindon Town, Norwich City, Forest Green Rovers, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Yeovil Town were all shown to have been given wrong draws.[9] The English Football League later issued a statement apologising for the errors that had been made and stating that the draw had not been compromised with all clubs receiving confirmation of their ties.[8]

Confusion also arose over the televised portion of the second round draw, in which four second round matches were announced with the incorrect location.[20]

The cup attracted even further criticism for its draws when it was announced that the third round draw would take place in Beijing at 11:15 China Standard Time (04:15 British Summer Time).[21]

Further errors continued for the draw of the fifth round, this was due to a technical hitch at Twitter headquarters which led to the draw being delayed for over an hour.[22] The draw finally appeared in a pre-recorded video almost two hours late. The fact that all of the bigger clubs were kept apart led to accusations of the draw having been fixed and that they had spent two hours trying to achieve the perfect draw outcome.[23]

Top goalscorers

[24]

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Algeria Islam Slimani Leicester City 4
Spain Samuel Sáiz Leeds United
England Josh Murphy Norwich City
4 Germany Leroy Sané Manchester City 3
Belgium Michy Batshuayi Chelsea
Ghana Andre Ayew West Ham United
England Jesse Lingard Manchester United
England Che Adams Birmingham City
Wales Tom Bradshaw Barnsley
Scotland Jason Cummings Nottingham Forest
Republic of Ireland Scott Hogan Aston Villa
England Kemar Roofe Leeds United

Notes

  1. 1 2 Although these matches were originally drawn as home ties for Newport County, it was agreed to reverse the fixtures due to ongoing works at Rodney Parade.[9][10]
  2. ↑ Fixture rearranged after the original tie on 8 August was abandoned due to torrential rain.[11]
  3. ↑ Although this match was originally drawn as a home tie for West Ham United, it was agreed to reverse the fixture due to the 2017 World Championships in Athletics taking place at London Stadium.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "EFL Cup to be known as Carabao Cup from 2017–18". BBC Sport. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  2. ↑ "Arsenal 0 Manchester City 3: Pep Guardiola lifts League Cup as Arsene Wenger's side are swatted aside". The Telegraph. 25 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  3. ↑ "Bristol City 2–1 Manchester United". BBC Sport. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  4. 1 2 "EFL Cup first-round draw in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday". BBC Sport. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  5. ↑ "Premier League and Football League: Ups & downs and European qualification". BBC Sport. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  6. ↑ Ziegler, Martyn (7 June 2017). "Video referee trials in England shelved until 2018". The Times. Retrieved 12 June 2017. (subscription required)
  7. 1 2 3 "Charlton Athletic seeded in League Cup draw with Aston Villa, Birmingham, Wolves, QPR and Fulham".
  8. 1 2 "Carabao Cup: Round One draw confirmed". efl.com. The Football League. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  9. 1 2 "EFL Cup first-round draw: Sunderland away to Bury, Forest Green face MK Dons". BBC Sport. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  10. 1 2 "EFL Cup second round draw: EFL Cup second round draw: Southampton to host Wolves". BBC Sport. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "Derby Game Rearranged". grimsby-townfc.co.uk. Grimsby Town FC. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "Carabao Cup: Clubs to learn Round Two fate". efl.com. The Football League. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  13. ↑ "Round Two: Confirmed Carabao Cup draw". efl.com. The Football League. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  14. ↑ "Draw: Carabao Cup Round Three". efl.com. The Football League. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  15. ↑ "Draw: Confirmed Carabao Cup Round Three". efl.com. The Football League. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  16. ↑ "Draw: Carabao Cup Round Three". The Football League. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  17. ↑ "Round Four:Draw". efl.com. The Football League. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  18. ↑ "Carabao Cup: Bristol City face Man Utd in quarter-finals". BBC Sport. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  19. ↑ "Semi-Final: Draw information". EFL. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  20. ↑ "EFL Cup second round draw: Southampton to host Wolves". BBC Sport. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  21. ↑ "EFL defends decision to stage Carabao Cup draw at 4.15am BST".
  22. ↑ "EFL requests 'full explanation' from Twitter over Carabao Cup draw farce". Guardian. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  23. ↑ "Carabao Cup labelled a 'fix' by furious football fans after pre-recorded quarter-final draw". Sun. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  24. ↑ "English League Cup 2017/2018: Top Scorers". World Football. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
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