The 2026/27 Carabao Cup took another dramatic turn on Wednesday night, as the draw for the competition’s fourth round produced one heavyweight Premier League collision, a handful of intriguing all-top-flight ties, and a genuine fairytale opportunity for one of the lowest-ranked clubs left in the competition. With the last sixteen now confirmed, English football’s attention turns to the week commencing October 26, when the tournament’s next chapter will be written.
There was little doubt about which fixture would dominate the headlines once the balls had been drawn. Liverpool will host Chelsea in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, in what is being billed as the marquee encounter of the round — two clubs with a rich history in this competition, thrown together at the earliest opportunity this season rather than waiting for their originally scheduled Premier League meeting.
There’s an extra layer of intrigue to the tie, too, given the managerial landscape at Chelsea. Xabi Alonso will be set for his first Anfield return as Chelsea boss, having taken the reins at Stamford Bridge after departing his role at Liverpool. Alonso won the Champions League with Liverpool as a player during a distinguished spell, and was touted as a possible replacement for Arne Slot before instead moving to Chelsea. That backstory adds a personal dimension to what was already shaping up as the standout fixture of the round — a former Liverpool great walking back into Anfield, only this time in opposition colours and looking to knock his old club out of the cup.
Both sides arrived in the draw in strong form in the competition. Liverpool booked their place in the fourth round after defeating Tottenham Hotspur 3-1, a result that underlined their credentials as one of the favourites heading into the knockout stages proper. Chelsea’s passage was rather more eventful. Chelsea beat Leeds last week in what by all accounts was an extraordinary contest — elsewhere it’s described as a 6-3 victory built on braces from Cole Palmer and Danny Welbeck, with Pedro Neto and Valentin Barco also on the scoresheet, as the Blues came from two goals down to eventually run out comfortable winners. It’s the kind of result that suggests Alonso’s side, whatever teething problems a new manager might be expected to encounter, are more than capable of matching the drama their upcoming trip to Merseyside promises to deliver.
If Liverpool versus Chelsea represents box office at the top of English football, the draw also handed one of the competition’s smaller clubs the tie of a lifetime. Premier League champions Arsenal have been drawn against the lowest-ranked side left in the competition, League Two’s Fleetwood Town. For a club playing in the fourth tier of English football, the visit of the reigning champions represents an occasion unlike almost anything else in the club’s history.
Fleetwood earned their place in the hat the hard way, seeing off higher-ranked opposition to book their spot in round four. Fleetwood will host Arsenal after upsetting Championship side Sheffield United at home in the third round. That victory over Championship opposition was no fluke result forced upon a weakened Sheffield United side either — Fleetwood have shown genuine form and resilience across the competition’s earlier rounds to reach this stage, and their reward could scarcely be bigger.
Fleetwood, who are seventh in League Two, will take on the Premier League champions for a place in the quarterfinals, and the scale of the occasion wasn’t lost on the club’s head coach. “It’s amazing for the club to welcome the best team in the country and one of the best teams in Europe to Highbury,” Fleetwood head coach Matt Lawlor said. “It will be an amazing occasion for the club.” It’s the sort of quote that captures exactly what makes cup competitions like this one so enduringly popular with supporters up and down the football pyramid — the possibility, however remote, that a club playing regularly in front of a few thousand fans could find itself hosting the champions of England, live on national television, with a place in the last eight on the line.
There’s context worth noting here too regarding how Arsenal reached this stage themselves. Manchester United, by contrast, suffered an altogether more painful evening in the third round. Fabian Hürzeler’s Brighton side became one of the last teams to punch its ticket to the fourth round, with Manchester United shockingly eliminated by Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford. Brighton stunned Manchester United 3-2 after recovering from a two-goal deficit, ending United’s Carabao Cup campaign in extraordinary fashion — one of the more eye-catching results of the entire third round, and a reminder that holders and heavyweights alike remain vulnerable in a competition that has repeatedly thrown up shocks against the odds in recent seasons.
Beyond the two standout fixtures, the draw produced a further six ties that, taken together, paint a picture of a competition still heavily populated by top-flight sides, but with a meaningful EFL presence carving out its own space in the latter stages.
Brighton & Hove Albion, rewarded for their remarkable comeback victory over Manchester United, will face another Premier League test — but exactly who that opponent will be remained unresolved at the time of the draw. Manchester City host Norwich City in the final third-round fixture on Thursday night, but both already know what awaits the winner: a home tie against Brighton & Hove Albion. It’s an unusual quirk of scheduling that meant one half of a fourth-round tie was confirmed before the identity of the opponent was known, a consequence of the competition’s staggered third-round schedule designed to accommodate clubs with European commitments.
Elsewhere, the draw produced a genuine mix of London derby intrigue, Midlands-adjacent Premier League meetings, and further opportunities for lower-league sides to make their mark. Everton host Newcastle United and Fulham face Crystal Palace, while Brentford travel to Sunderland in a meeting between two clubs who have each enjoyed varying degrees of success in the competition in recent seasons. Aston Villa travel to Bournemouth in another all-Premier League clash, rounding out a round that features no fewer than five confirmed top-flight-versus-top-flight ties, with a possible sixth depending on Thursday’s outcome between Manchester City and Norwich.
The most significant EFL storyline outside of Fleetwood’s headline-grabbing draw against Arsenal comes further down the bracket, where two lower-league clubs have been paired directly against one another — guaranteeing at least one EFL side a place in the quarter-finals regardless of how the rest of the round unfolds. Bradford City and Peterborough United have been drawn against each other, a fixture that, while lacking the star power of Liverpool-Chelsea or the romance of Fleetwood’s clash with Arsenal, guarantees a Football League club a route into the last eight of the competition — a meaningful achievement in its own right for either side involved.
Fleetwood’s own ambitions extend beyond simply making up the numbers against Arsenal, too. There will definitely be EFL representation in the quarter-finals, with Bradford City and Peterborough United drawn against each other, while Fleetwood have the chance to take another lower-league club through if they can upset Arsenal. It’s a reminder that, romantic subplot aside, Fleetwood’s players and staff will genuinely fancy their chances of causing an upset — not simply turning up to make up the numbers against superior opposition, but with a real eye on doing what they’ve already done once this competition, in seeing off a side many ranks above them.
Putting the full picture together, the eight ties confirmed (with one leg of the Brighton fixture still to be determined pending Thursday’s Manchester City-Norwich result) read as follows: Fleetwood Town versus Arsenal; the winner of Manchester City and Norwich City versus Brighton & Hove Albion; Everton versus Newcastle United; Sunderland versus Brentford; Liverpool versus Chelsea; Bradford City versus Peterborough United; Fulham versus Crystal Palace; and Bournemouth versus Aston Villa.
It’s a draw notably light on regionalisation or seeding of any kind. There was no seeding or regionalisation in the fourth round, so all of the remaining clubs went into the same draw. That open, unrestricted format is part of what makes the Carabao Cup’s later rounds so unpredictable compared to some of English football’s other cup competitions — any club remaining in the hat, regardless of division or European commitments, faces genuinely equal odds of being paired with a Premier League giant or a fellow lower-league survivor.
With the draw now complete, attention turns to the logistics of the fourth round itself. The fourth round of the Carabao Cup takes place the week commencing October 26, giving clubs several weeks to prepare amid a congested autumn fixture schedule that includes Premier League commitments, European group-stage football for several of the sides involved, and the usual physical toll that comes with competing across multiple competitions simultaneously.
Exact kick-off times and broadcast details for the individual ties were still to be confirmed at the time of the draw. Exact kick-off times and broadcast arrangements are expected to be confirmed separately, with clubs needing to balance their cup commitments with their domestic league schedules and, for teams involved in European competitions, their continental fixtures. That balancing act will be particularly relevant for clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Newcastle, all of whom will likely be juggling continental football alongside their domestic cup obligations in the weeks either side of the fourth round.
Looking further down the calendar, the competition’s broader shape for the season is also beginning to take form. The quarterfinals are set for the week of December 14, right before the holiday period kicks off in earnest across the Premier League and beyond. It’s a demanding stretch for any club still involved by that stage, with the traditionally hectic festive fixture list looming immediately after.
It’s worth stepping back to consider just how eventful this season’s Carabao Cup has already proven to be, even before the fourth round has been played. Manchester City, the defending cup holders, were still to secure their place in the fourth round at the time of the draw, taking on Norwich City on Thursday night — expected to be the final club to advance in the competition this round. The idea that reigning champions could be one of the very last sides confirmed for the next stage speaks to how tightly this year’s competition has been fought even in its earlier rounds, with no side, however well-resourced or previously dominant in the tournament, able to take their progress for granted.
Manchester United’s exit at the hands of Brighton stands as the marquee shock of the third round so far, eliminating one of England’s traditional giants at the earliest possible opportunity against top-flight opposition, and setting the tone for a competition that has already delivered plenty of drama before the last sixteen has even been played. Add to that Fleetwood’s giant-killing victory over Championship opposition in the previous round, and it’s clear this season’s tournament has no shortage of storylines heading into the business end of the group of matches still to come
For Liverpool and Chelsea, Wednesday’s draw effectively brought forward a fixture supporters of both clubs would have been circling regardless of the competition, given their originally scheduled Premier League meeting wasn’t due until later in the season. Now, instead, the two sides will face off at Anfield with a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on the line — and with Alonso’s first competitive return to his former home ground adding an unmistakable subplot to proceedings.
For Arsenal, the task in principle should be straightforward on paper: a Premier League title-winning squad, even with rotation expected given the demands of a fixture list stretching across multiple competitions, would ordinarily be expected to see off League Two opposition with relative comfort. But cup football has an established habit of punishing complacency, and Fleetwood’s run to this stage — including their third-round win over Championship opposition — suggests Matt Lawlor’s side will not simply be making up the numbers at Highbury. For a club of Fleetwood’s stature, simply hosting the champions represents a landmark occasion in itself; anything beyond that, should they find a way to spring an upset, would rank among the most memorable results in the club’s history.
Elsewhere in the draw, sides like Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, and Brentford will all fancy their chances of progression in ties that, while lacking the marquee status of Liverpool-Chelsea or the romantic appeal of Fleetwood-Arsenal, nonetheless represent genuine opportunities to reach the last eight of a competition that continues to hold real significance for clubs across the English football pyramid — offering silverware, European qualification implications for the eventual winner, and the kind of magic that has defined this year’s tournament from its earliest rounds through to Wednesday night’s draw.