Three Championship clubs who will be going all out in the 2025/26 Carabao Cup, including former winners

Tuesday night marks the start of the 2025–26 Carabao Cup, which gives English Football League clubs one of their yearly opportunities to compete for a trophy against the Premier League’s elite.

Every season, at least one EFL team pulls off a spectacular upset, and last year’s victors, Newcastle United, had to play then-League Two AFC Wimbledon on their road to Wembley. Last season, Preston North End, Stoke City, and Sheffield Wednesday advanced to the fourth round.

But, particularly in the Championship, not every team is focused on winning a cup. Managers have frequently used weakened starting lineups to save their strongest teams for league play when promotion or the possibility of relegation are at stake.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t any teams hoping to take their supporters on a historic run to a trophy. This season, EFL Analysis thinks three teams in particular will be doing everything in their power to advance as far as possible in the Carabao Cup.

 

 

City of Coventry

 

Under Frank Lampard, Coventry City could not be at a better moment to embark on another thrilling trophy run.

After their goal was controversially disallowed for offside in extra time, Manchester United narrowly defeated the Sky Blues on penalties in the 2024 FA Cup final.

Even though Mark Robins was in charge of that amazing cup run, Coventry has proven they are more than capable of playing in tournaments, and having a two-time League Cup winner in charge who guided them to fifth place the previous season will undoubtedly aid their efforts.

 

The Midlands team has been predicted to finish inside the playoffs by many, but they have even more motivation to compete as Luton Town, their opponents in the first round, prevented them from earning a 2023 promotion to the Premier League through play-off penalties.

 Leicester City

 

Some Leicester supporters have expressed their desire to at least place in the play-offs despite the team’s impending point deduction.

But winning gives you confidence, and if the Foxes want to compete to return to the top flight, they’ll be better off if they don’t lose in the cups.

 

Leicester may decide to concentrate on giving their supporters some happiness in the League Cup for the fourth time in their history if Everton target Abdul Fatawu and Bilal El Khannouss depart and the points deduction negatively impacts their league campaign. On Tuesday, they travel to play League One Huddersfield Town.

Wrexham

Wrexham is not ranked highly on fan and pundit predictions for promotion this season, with some thinking that an instant jump to the Premier League may be too far to go, despite receiving historic back-to-back promotions to the Championship.

The Welsh outfit have benefited highly from the Disney docuseries ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ and their Hollywood owners, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, in terms of finances and an enormous media presence.

Of course, Phil Parkinson and company probably didn’t write themselves off in August.

What would be the next best thing, though, if the Disney series didn’t have a great story to tell in its upcoming season? Naturally, a cup run! Even while a mid-table finish is a good one from a football standpoint, it’s not exactly a flashy sell, so that or a relegation struggle.

League Cup Runs by Wrexham Since Hollywood Takeover

• 2023/24 – Second Round
• 2024/25 – First Round

The next noteworthy tale in the Wexham screenplay might be the Carabao Cup. On Tuesday, they play Hull City at home.

 

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