How to watch the EFL Cup & EFL Trophy on TV

Jonathan Victoria • 29 Aug 2024 Guides

New season, new chance for silverware…

How to watch the EFL Cup & EFL Trophy on TV

Last updated: 19/08/2024

The 2024/25 EFL season is underway after what felt like an incredibly long summer without club football.

Matchday 1 for the Championship, League One and League Two got underway just over the weekend and now they’re already set to be bombarded with fixtures as the EFL Cup gets going this week.

Then just a short week later, clubs from League One and League Two will be in action again, along with some Premier League and Championship under-21 teams, as the EFL Trophy begins.

With football well and truly back and more coverage than ever before across the top four levels of English football, you’ll want to know how you can watch it all, including where to catch the EFL Cup and EFL Trophy on TV this season.

EFL Cup & EFL Trophy on TV

The EFL and subsequent EFL competitions, including the EFL Cup and Trophy, will be more available to watch than ever before thanks to a groundbreaking deal with Sky Sports.

In the deal, fans will be able to watch every round of the EFL Cup and Trophy this season live when they’re on exclusively on Sky Sports.

This will be achieved thanks to the new service Sky Sports+, which comes as a new channel but mainly on the revamped Sky Sports app, in particular the ‘Watch’ tab that includes all the streams for the games every weekend.

Sky Sports+

Sky Sports+ is bringing 50% more sport than ever before, most notably with more EFL coverage that will see over 1000 games broadcast live across the three leagues, plus all 93 EFL Cup (Carabao Cup) games and 127 EFL Trophy (Bristol Street Motors Trophy) fixtures.

Sky Sports+ is available for free for all Sky Sports subscribers. All you need to do is purchase a relevant package or add Sky Sports to your existing package if you don’t already have it. Once you have done so, you’ll have access to the apps plethora of streams.

EFL Cup

The EFL Cup, better known as the Carabao Cup, has been contested every year since 1960, running as a secondary domestic competition, with lesser importance than the FA Cup but still holds some weight.

In previous years, many teams and managers specifically didn’t pay much attention to the EFL Cup. But it has seen a resurgence in recent years in terms of importance, most notably after Manchester City became the first team to achieve the domestic treble (Premier League, FA Cup and EFL Cup).

That has now become the goal for many teams aiming for as much silverware as possible, with Liverpool going for the unprecedented quadruple in the 2021/22 season (they ended up walking away from the season with a domestic double, FA Cup and EFL Cup).

Each round of the EFL Cup is single-legged, with any tied games at full-time going straight to a penalty shootout to determine a victor. The only exception to this is the semi-final, which features two legs.

EFL Cup Round Two

Two rounds down now as some of the Premier League clubs were introduced in the second round, with some only making it so far.

Nottingham Forest lost out on penalties in one of the all-Prem ties, with Newcastle claiming the place in the third round.

West Ham also dumped out a fellow Prem side in the form of Bournemouth thanks to a late goal from starman Jarrod Bowen.

There were a number of high-scoring matches across the round, none more so than in Cardiff, with the home side and visitors Southampton going toe-to-toe right up until the 90th minute before the Saints found two late winners to see them through 5-3.

The big shock of the round came at Portman Road, where new Premier League side Ipswich were defeated by League Two side AFC Wimbledon on penalties.

EFL Cup Round Three fixtures

Round Two is complete and the draw for the third stage has concluded. With the rest of the Premier League teams added to the pot for Round Three, the competition is set to heat up properly now.

Thankfully, there aren't any giants vs giants this time around - we like those games to be left for the later rounds.

However, there are still some tasty matchups and potential for a surprise or two.

Here are the fixtures for the EFL Cup Third Round:

Everton vs Southampton
Arsenal vs Bolton
AFC Wimbledon vs Newcastle
Chelsea vs Barrow
QPR vs Crystal Palace
Blackpool vs Sheffield Wednesday
Wycombe Wanderers vs Aston Villa
Brentford vs Leyton Orient
Walsall vs Leicester City
Brighton vs Wolves
Stoke City vs Fleetwood Town
Coventry vs Tottenham
Preston North End vs Fulham
Manchester City vs Watford
Manchester United vs Barnsley
Liverpool vs West Ham

Full dates and times are yet to be confirmed for the round, although we know they will take place on Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th September.

Three Prem vs Prem matchups for the round, with our pick of the bunch being Liverpool vs West Ham. Two sides under new management, both will be wanting something to prove this year and some silverware certainly would be a nice way to show that.

Everton vs Southampton could become something of a rivalry match later in the year, with both sides being on many people's lists as relegation candidates in the league.

Both Manchester sides have favourable ties, the city set to be alive with fans from both teams taking to their respective stadiums to hopefully see their boys progress to the next round.

In terms of potential upset, Spurs fans certainly shouldn't be overly optimistic about taking on Coventry.

EFL Cup draw: Round Four

The fourth round draw will take place following the conclusion of the final game of the third round, which is not yet confirmed but will very likely take place on Wednesday 18th September, potentially at around 10pm.

EFL Cup round dates & final

Round one: Tuesday 13th & Wednesday 14th August 2024

Round two: Tuesday 27th & Wednesday 28th August 2024

Round three: Wednesday 18th & Wednesday 25th September

Round four: W/C Wednesday 30th October 2024

Quarter-final: W/C Wednesday 18th December

Semi-final: First leg – Wednesday 8th January 2025 | Second leg – Wednesday 5th February 2025

Final: Sunday 16th March

EFL Trophy

The EFL Trophy, currently known as the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, is a competition for teams in the third and fourth tier of English football (League One and League Two) plus 16 under-21 teams from Premier League and Championship clubs.

It was launched in 1981 as is a good chance for the lower league clubs to claim silverware, given that the chance of them achieving FA Cup or EFL Cup glory is rather slim.

The EFL Trophy’s format differs from that of the FA Cup and EFL Cup in that it isn’t simply single-leg rounds, but instead starts with a league system. Round One, or the group stage, consists of 16 groups of four teams, with the groups divided between northern and southern sections depending on the teams’ location.

There are only three games in the group stage so each team plays the other in the group just once. At the end of the group stage, the top two teams will advance to the knockout stage, where the competition then becomes single-leg elimination matches including in the semi-finals.

EFL Trophy groups & fixtures

Northern section

Group A

Teams

Accrington Stanley (L2)
Everton U21 (PL2)
Stockport County (L1)
Tranmere Rovers (L2)