The Carabao Cup is already in full swing for the 2026/27 season, with English football’s secondary club competition making an early start this summer.

League Two promotion hopefuls Walsall stunned Championship side Bristol City 1-0 away from home on Thursday night thanks to Aaron Pressley’s second-half goal at Ashton Gate.

This year’s competition also involved a preliminary round due to a bumper total of nine English clubs qualifying for Europe last term, with Crawley defeating EFL returnees York 2-0 and Rochdale holding their nerve to defeat fourth-tier rivals Tranmere 2-1 on penalties following a 2-2 draw.

The first round of the Carabao Cup is usually a midweek affair after the EFL season has already started, with Premier League teams traditionally entering in round two - that excludes the clubs in European competition, who then join the fun in round three.

However, this season the first round is taking place the weekend before the start of the league campaign and provides a competitive warm-up for clubs following their schedule of pre-season friendlies.

There are three games happening on Friday night, with a further 30 on Saturday afternoon and one fixture apiece across Sunday and Monday.

70 clubs are in action in total during the first round, including the three teams relegated from the Premier League last season in West Ham, Wolves and Burnley, with the second round draw coming up on Monday.

Manchester City are the current holders of the Carabao Cup, having beaten Premier League title rivals Arsenal 2-0 in last season’s final at Wembley in March thanks to a brace from Nico O’Reilly, securing a record-extending ninth triumph - their fifth and last under outgoing boss Pep Guardiola.

Those who have quickly tired of pre-season friendlies and are itching for the return of proper competitive football following the end of the World Cup are in luck, as every match from the first round of the Carabao Cup is available to watch live in the UK.

ITV has live free-to-air coverage of Friday night’s showdown between Championship promotion rivals Middlesbrough and Wrexham, which is also being shown on STV, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Ultra HDR.

Wolves vs Port Vale and Wycombe vs Stevenage are both on Sky Sports+, which also has every 3pm BST kick-off - including West Ham vs Portsmouth - available to watch on Saturday, along with the earlier match-ups between Cambridge and Barnet and London rivals Millwall and QPR, plus the later games between Cheltenham and Charlton and Rotherham and West Brom.

Colchester vs Southampton at 5:30pm BST on Saturday is live on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Ultra HDR, as is Mansfield vs Sheffield United at 4pm on Sunday and Monday night’s 8pm Devon derby clash between Plymouth and Exeter, a match that will follow the second round draw.