League Cup, 2021 (Carabao Cup)
Groups
Group Northern Section
- Aston Villa
- Barnsley
- Blackburn Rovers
- Bradford City
- Burnley
- Burton Albion
- Derby County
- Everton
- Fleetwood Town
- Harrogate Town
- Hull City
- Leeds United
- Lincoln City
- Middlesbrough
- Morecambe
- Newcastle United
- Oldham Athletic
- Port Vale
- Preston North End
- Rochdale
- Salford City
- Sheffield United
- Sheffield Wednesday
- Stoke City
- West Bromwich Albion
- Wolverhampton Wanderers
Group Southern Section
- AFC Bournemouth
- Brentford
- Brighton and Hove Albion
- Bristol City
- Cambridge United
- Charlton Athletic
- Cheltenham Town
- Coventry City
- Crystal Palace
- Fulham
- Gillingham
- Ipswich Town
- Leyton Orient
- Luton Town
- Millwall
- Newport County
- Northampton Town
- Oxford United
- Plymouth Argyle
- Portsmouth
- Reading
- Southampton
- Watford
- West Ham United
- 2020-21 was the 61st season of the Football League Cup competition.
- The season was heavily affected by the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Notably, all ties prior to the Final were played behind closed doors. With the Final delayed until April, rather than the usual February date, the attendance at Wembley Stadium was restricted to 8,000.
- This was the fourth of an extended five-year sponsorship deal with a Thai-based energy drinks company Carabao Dang when the Football League Cup was rebranded as the Carabao Cup.
- All 92 members of the Premier League and English Football League (EFL) competed.
- Due to most of their squad testing positive for COVID-19, Leyton Orient forfeited their 3rd round tie with Tottenham Hotspur.
- 22 clubs from the League Championship, 24 from League One and 24 for League Two (70 in total) entered at the 1st round stage.
- The remaining two clubs from the League Championship (AFC Bournemouth and Watford; the two highest ranked clubs who were relegated from the previous season's Premier League) entered at the 2nd round stage along with the 13 Premier League clubs who were not involved in European competitions. Therefore, a total of 50 clubs competed in the second round.
- The first two rounds were regionalised (north and south).
- The remaining seven Premier League clubs (Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur) entered at the 3rd round stage (32 clubs in total).
- Each tie was played as a single game. Due to fixture congestion, this included the semi-finals for the first time.
- In the event of the scores being level at the end of 90 minutes, the tie was decided by a penalty shoot-out. 30 minutes extra time would only be allowed in the Final.
- Video assistant referees (VAR) were in use at ties played at Premier League club grounds
- Subject to their final position in the Premier League, the winner of the competition became eligible to qualify for the play-off round of the new UEFA Europa Conference League.
- Note: Details shown under the 'Goal scorers' tab relates to players with Premier League clubs only.