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 5 September, 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 12 September, 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 29-31 May 2021.
The 2020/21 Sky Bet EFL fixture schedule will also be released on Friday 21 August at 9am.
EFL Trophy
The EFL Trophy will officially get underway in Matchday One during week commencing 7 September, and culminating at Wembley Stadium for the Final on Sunday 14 March 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 3 28/9 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 (EFL)
Southampton
West Bromwich Albion
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
The Group Stage draw for the EFL Trophy will take place on Tuesday 18 August at 1.30pm on TalkSPORT 2.
Broadcasting plans for the Sky Bet EFL, Carabao Cup and EFL Trophy will be confirmed in due course.