Key events
Carabao Cup latest scores
25 min: Lincoln 0-0 Chelsea Still no sign of Chelsea imposing their superior ability on the game. Alejandro Garnacho is being booed every time he gets the ball and has visited the canvas a few times.
GOAL! Barnsley 0-2 Brighton (Gomez 21)
Two for Brighton, two for Diego Gomez. His second goal was a screamer, sweet-spotted into the roof of the net from 20 yards. Another assist for Tom Watson too, although in truth this was all Gomez’s work.
19 min: Lincoln 0-0 Chelsea Gittens misses Chelsea’s first chance, half-volleying Fernandez’s pass over the bar from a tight angle. It was a tough ball to take – not quite a half-volley, in fact, as it bounced a yard or so in front of him.
1 min: Liverpool 0-0 Southampton They’re underway at Anfield now.
“Looking at that Southampton team,” says Matt Dony, “it’s hard to see who Liverpool might end up buying next. (This joke comes to you from 2017. I’m off to listen to Galway Girl.)”
14 min: Barnsley 0-1 Brighton Diego Gomez’s goal was pretty straightforward, slid into the net from Tom Watson’s low cross.
12 min: Lincoln 0-0 Chelsea Lincoln continue to dominate a slightly unnerved Chelsea side. Freddie Draper appeals for a penalty after colliding with Malo Gusto; nothing doing and there’s no VAR in this game.
GOAL! Barnsley 0-1 Brighton (Gomez 9)
The first goal of the night has been scored by Brighton’s Diego Gomez, and there’s nothing else to say because I haven’t seen the goal yet.
Liverpool v Southampton (8pm)
Before the match at Anfield, Liverpool will pay tribute to Matt Beard, the former coach of their women’s team who has died at the tragically young age of 47.
6 min: Lincoln 0-0 Chelsea Lincoln have started superbly and are working the Chelsea defence with a series of long throws. It was the first of those throws that ultimately led to Montsma’s chance.
4 min: Lincoln 0-0 Chelsea Fofana is on his feet and being tested for concussion. It looks like he’s going to continue.
2 min: Lincoln 0-0 Chelsea Lincoln comes so close to a dream start, with Lewis Montsma rattling a shot off inside the post after barely 70 seconds. Moments later Jorgensen punches the ball clear and flattens his teammate Fofana in his follow through; he’s face down on the turf.
Kick off
Peep peep! The seven 7.45pm games are under way.
“Everton have won some trophies in their history but the League Cup isn’t one of them,” writes Matt Burtz. “After a win at Molineux pre-international break I’m optimistic they can do it again. At the very least we’ll see what Thierno Barry can do in the starting lineup. (Do I immediately think of Gareth Barry when I see the name ‘Barry’? Yes, yes I do. Gareth scored five goals for Everton and I can’t recall any of them, BTW.)”
They haven’t won the League Cup but it was the catalyst for the greatest period in Everton’s history, as our friend Gary Naylor explained on a recent episode of Nessun Dorma.
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Wigan v Wycombe team news
Wigan Tickle, Weir, Aimson, Fox, Cooper, Borges Rodrigues, Wright, Adeeko, Hungbo, Costelloe, Asamoah.
Subs: Savin, Luke Robinson, Rogers, Smith, Trevitt, Brenan, McManaman, Murray, Mullin.
Wycombe Norris, Huggins, Back, Hagelskjaer, Casey, Abbott, Boyd-Munce, Westergaard, Tilley, Fink, McNeilly.
Subs: Moore, Allen, Gregory, Skura, Leahy, Bartolo, Savage, Onyedinma, Lowry.
Referee Ed Duckworth.
Fulham v Cambridge team news
Fulham Lecomte, Castagne, Diop, Cuenca, Robinson, Reed, Cairney, Traore, Smith Rowe, Kevin, Jimenez.
Subs: Leno, Tete, Bassey, Berge, King, Wilson, Chukwueze, Rodrigo Muniz, Kusi-Asare.
Cambridge Eastwood, Bennett, Jobe, Ibsen Rossi, Bradshaw, Mayor, McLoughlin, Mpanzu, Smith, Brophy, Lavery.
Subs: Hughes, Purrington, Ball, Watts, Kachunga, KaiKai, Knight, Kouassi, Gibbons.
Referee Ruebyn Ricardo.
Liverpool v Southampton team news
Arne Slot changes the entire XI that started the Merseyside derby. Alexander Isak starts; Giorgi Mamardashvili, the best goalkeeper at Euro 2024, and Giovanni Leoni make their Liverpool debuts.
Liverpool Mamardashvili, Frimpong, Gomez, Leoni, Robertson, Jones, Endo, Chiesa, Nyoni, Ngumoha, Isak.
Subs: Woodman, Kerkez, Bradley, Ekitike, Williams, Danns, Pilling, Gordon, Morrison.
Southampton McCarthy, Jelert, Edwards, Wood-Gordon, Quarshie, Manning, Downes, Jander, Scienza, Archer, Armstrong.
Subs: Long, Harwood-Bellis, Charles, Matsuki, Fraser, Fellows, Robinson, Stewart, Downs.
Referee Thomas Bramall (Sheffield)
Burnley v Cardiff team news
Burnley Weiss, Tuanzebe, Worrall, Humphreys, Sonne, Ugochukwu, Mejbri, Lucas Pires, Edwards, Broja, Flemming.
Subs: Hladky, Ndayishimiye, Banel, Barnes, Pimlott, Clark, Pouani, Campbell, Brierley.
Cardiff Trott, Ng, Chambers, Fish, Bagan, Wintle, Joel Colwill, Ashford, Rubin Colwill, Davies, Robinson.
Subs: Turner, Osho, Giles, Mafico, Turnbull, Kellyman, Nyakuhwa, Willock, Salech.
Referee David Webb.
Wrexham v Reading team news
Wrexham Burton, Brunt, Scarr, Doyle, Barnett, Lee, Matty James, Thomason, McClean, Broadhead, Smith.
Subs: Okonkwo, Coady, Cleworth, Kabore, Longman, Dobson, O’Brien, Hardie, Moore.
Reading Stevens, Abrefa, Stickland, Jacob, Garcia, Doyle, Elliott, Savage, Kyerewaa, O’Mahony, Ehibhatiomhan.
Subs: Pereira, Fraser, Wing, Rushesha, Lane, Ryan, Duah, Ahmed, Patton.
Referee Simon Mather
Lincoln v Chelsea team news
Enzo Maresca makes eight changes to the side that started at Old Trafford on Saturday. Alejandro Garnacho makes his full debut for Chelsea.
Lincoln Jeacock, Darikwa, Montsma, Bradley, Hamer, McGrandles, Towler, Varfolomeyev, Street, House, Draper.
Subs: Obikwu, Okoronkwo, Ring, Thorn, Collins, Bayliss, Hackett, Reach, Wickens.
Chelsea Jorgensen, Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Hato, Fernandez, Santos, Bynoe-Gittens, Buonanotte, Garnacho, George.
Subs: Slonina, Cucurella, James, Caicedo, Pedro Neto, Estevao, Walsh, Harrison, Mheuka.
Referee Matthew Donohue.
Wolves v Everton team news
Wolves Johnstone, Bellegarde, Santiago Bueno, Krejci, Doherty, Hwang, Andre Trindade, Hugo Bueno, Larsen, Munetsi, Arias.
Subs: Bentley, Wolfe, Joao Gomes, Agbadou, Arokodare, Rodrigo Gomes, Toti Gomes, Hoever, Lopez.
Everton Travers, O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Alcaraz, Coleman, Garner, Dibling, McNeil, Iroegbunam, Barry.
Subs: King, Patterson, Beto, Grealish, Aznou, Gueye, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye, Mykolenko.
Referee Craig Pawson.
Barnsley v Brighton team news
Barnsley Cooper, Durand de Gevigney, Shepherd, Ogbeta, Farrugia, Rooney, Connell, Cleary, Russell, Yoganathan, Keillor-Dunn.
Subs: Flavell, Phillips, Watson, Barratt, Bland, Graham, Earl, Woodcock, Farrell.
Brighton Steele, Veltman, Coppola, Boscagli, Kadioglu, Baleba, Milner, Watson, Welbeck, Gomez, Tzimas.
Subs: McGill, Dunk, van Hecke, Rutter, Kostoulas, Mitoma, Ayari, Tasker, Howell.
Referee Tom Reeves
Ben Fisher on Lincoln v Chelsea
It is the makings of a pub‑quiz question: what do third‑tier Lincoln City have in common with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt? The answer is rooted in their forward-thinking approach, with the League One side one of a few clubs in the world to have a dedicated innovation arm tasked with maximising potential. There are always ideas bubbling away at the surface, one centring on using plant‑based energy gels, another on adjusting dressing-room lighting to heighten performance.
Preamble
The Carabao Cup starts here! What do you mean seven Premier League teams, including Aston Villa and Manchester United, are already out of the competition? Fair point. But it’s not the point, so pipe down.
The point is that Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and the holders Newcastle – who between them have won 10 of the last 12 League Cups – are among the clubs joining the competition this week.
Chelsea and Liverpool are first up with matches against Lincoln and Southampton respectively. We’re all friends here, so can acknowledge that tonight’s fixture list is not the most mouthwatering in Guardian clockwatch history. But cup nights usually throw up some quality watercooler fodder, so stay us with unguaranteed excitement.
These are tonight’s fixtures; all are 7.45pm kick-offs unless otherwise jolly well stated.
