The 2020/21 season dates across the Sky Bet EFL, Carabao Cup and the EFL Trophy have beenconfirmed, 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 15/16 September.
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 18, August 2020, 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 - 5 September 2020 (alternative dates may apply)
- Round Two - 15/16 September 2020
- Round Three - 22/23 September 2020
- Round Four - 29/30 September 2020
- Round Five - 22/23 December 2020
- Semi-Finals - 5/6 January 2021 (tie to be played at the venue of club drawn out first)
- Final - 28 February 2021
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 8/9 May 2021.
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 May 29 to 31 2021.
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, and culminating at Wembley Stadium for the final on Sunday, March 14, 2021.
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 - 8/9 September 2020
- Matchday 2 - 6/7 October 2020
- Matchday 3 - 10/11 November 2020
- Round of 32 - 8/9 December 2020
- Round of 16 - 12/13 January 2021
- Quarter-Finals - 2/3 February 2021
- Semi-Finals - 16/17 February 2021
- Final - 14 March 2021
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
- Southampton
- West Bromwich Albion
- West Ham United
- Wolverhampton Wanderers
The Group Stage draw for the EFL Trophy will take place on Tuesday, August 18, at 1.30pm on TalkSPORT 2.
Broadcasting plans for the Sky Bet EFL, Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy will be confirmed in due course.