Carabao Cup 3rd-Round Draw Yields Liverpool-Chelsea Clash

The Premier League's powers are entering the competition in the third round, and two will square off right away.

With the second round of England's Carabao Cup coming to a close this week, the Premier League's big boys have entered the competition for its third round.

The top flight has already seen teams booted out, with Huddersfield Town losing to Stoke City and Cardiff City going out courtesy of Norwich City. And it will be quite the intrigue moving forward as the likes of last season's champions Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Burnley are poised for an entrance, with the draw for the next round having taken place on Thursday night.

There are still a few lower-league sides remaining in the competition looking to cut off a big scalp in the next round, and Nottingham Forest already dumped Newcastle United out rather convincingly on Wednesday night, beating them 3-1.

The League Cup has so far proven to be a magical affair, providing Stoke's Saido Berahino with a platform to break his 913-day goal drought, so we can expect some thrills.

Meanwhile, City, who also captured the Premier League crown at the end of last season, have been drawn against Oxford United in an away fixture, while Champions League finalists Liverpool will face Chelsea at Anfield in the third round's biggest fixture.

FULL DRAW

West Brom v. Crystal Palace

Arsenal v. Brentford

Burton Albion v Burnley

Wycombe v. Norwich 

Oxford United v. Manchester City

West Ham v. Macclesfield

Millwall v. Fulham

Liverpool v. Chelsea

Bournemouth v. Blackburn

Preston v. Middlesbrough

Wolves v. Leicester City

Spurs v. Watford

Blackpool v. QPR

Everton v. Southampton

Manchester United v. Derby County

Nottingham Forest v. Stoke City

The competition has been made more interesting this year as extra time for drawn matches will be a thing of the past. Teams will head straight to penalties if they cannot be separated in regulation and the spot-kick format will return to the traditional ABAB system instead of the modified ABBA used last season.

The third round of the Carabao Cup will be played in the week commencing September 24.