The 2020/21 season dates across the Sky Bet EFL, Carabao Cup and the EFL Trophy have been confirmed, with the Carabao Cup officially kicking off the EFL season with an action-packed month of cup football to follow throughout September.
Carabao Cup
The 2020/21 competition has seen a number of significant scheduling changes, with two legged semi-finals being replaced by a single tie and the first four rounds scheduled to take place on consecutive weeks, kicking off in early September.
Round One fixtures are scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 5, but due to the international window may be played on alternative dates.
Rounds Two, Three and Four will be played on consecutive midweeks dates starting September 15/16.
Premier League sides will enter the competition in Round Two or Round Three if they are competing in European competition in season 2020/21.
The draw for the Round One will take place on Sky Sports News on Tuesday, August 18 (time TBC).
As per the previous two seasons, the Round One draw will be divided into a northern and southern section, but will remain unseeded.
The dates for the 2020/21 Carabao Cup are as follows:
• Round One: September 5 (alternative dates may apply)
• Round Two: September 15/16
• Round Three: September 22/23
• Round Four: September 29/30
• Round Five: December 22/23
• Semi-Finals: January 5/6 (tie to be played at the venue of club drawn out first)
• Final: February 28
Sky Bet EFL
As previously advised, League competition in the Sky Bet EFL will kick-off on Saturday, September 12, while the regular seasons in the Sky Bet Championship, League One and League Two will conclude on May 8/9.
Due to the unprecedented challenges facing the fixture calendar as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and starting six weeks later than usual, the Sky Bet EFL Championship will feature 13 midweek match rounds whilst League One and League Two will have 11 respectively throughout season 2020/21.
The season will culminate in the Sky Bet play-off finals taking place at Wembley Stadium over the spring bank holiday weekend on May 29-31.
The 2020/21 Sky Bet EFL fixture schedule will also be released on Friday, August 21 at 9am.
EFL Trophy
The EFL Trophy will officially get underway in Matchday One during week commencing September 7, culminating at Wembley Stadium for the final on Sunday, March 14.
The competition format remains unchanged, however, the title sponsorship with Leasing.com has come to an end, so the competition will revert back to the EFL Trophy.
The dates for the 2020/21 EFL Trophy are as follows:
• Matchday 1: September 8/9
• Matchday 2: October 6/7
• Matchday 3: November 10/11
• Round of 32: December 8/9
• Round of 16: January 12/13
• Quarter-Finals: February 2/3
• Semi-Finals: February 16/17
• Final: March 14
Category One invited clubs taking part in the 2020/21 EFL Trophy competition have now been confirmed and are as follows:
• Arsenal
• Aston Villa
• Brighton & Hove Albion
• Chelsea
• Fulham
• Leeds United
• Leicester City
• Liverpool
• Manchester City
• Manchester United
• Newcastle United
• Norwich City (EFL)
• Southampton
• West Bromwich Albion
• West Ham United
• Wolverhampton Wanderers
The Group Stage draw for the EFL Trophy will take place at 1.30pm on Tuesday, August 18 on TalkSPORT 2.
Broadcasting plans for the Sky Bet EFL, Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy will be confirmed in due course.