Four hours after the Football League fixture list is revealed, the League Cup first round draw for 2016/17 will take place.
The English Football League (EFL) or for normal people, the Football League, have confirmed that the draw for the first round of the League Cup competition will take place at 1pm on Wednesday afternoon.
And for the first time ever – it will be streamed live on Facebook!
Exciting eh!
The first round of the rebranded Cup competition will include 70 of the 72 Football League clubs this season, and for some reason Norwich City and Newcastle United will join at the second round stage.
The current holders of the Cup from the 56th Final are Manchester City, as they beat Liverpool last February – and this year’s final will again take place at Wembley on February 26, 2017.
The draw will take place at Sky Sports’ studios and will be streamed as a Facebook Live event for those who know what that means – but it can be followed on Sky Sports’ website, their apps, the EFL Cup Facebook page and Sky Sports’ own Facebook page.
The draw is seeded and also split on a north/south basis.
First round ties will be played in the week beginning August 8 and Premier League clubs will enter at round 2, with Champions League and Europa League qualifying clubs coming in at round 3.
Seeded:
North:
Barnsley, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Bradford City, Burton Albion, Derby County, Huddersfield Town, Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Port Vale, Preston North End, Rochdale, Rotherham United, Scunthorpe United, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Wigan Athletic.
South:
Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Brentford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Bristol City, Cardiff City, Charlton Athletic, Coventry City, Fulham, Gillingham, Ipswich Town, Millwall, Milton Keynes Dons, Peterborough United, Queens Park Rangers, Reading, Walsall, Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Not seeded:
North:
Accrington Stanley, Blackpool, Bury, Cambridge United, Carlisle United, Chesterfield, Crewe Alexandra, Doncaster Rovers, Fleetwood Town, Grimsby Town, Hartlepool United, Mansfield Town, Morecambe, Northampton Town, Notts County, Oldham Athletic, Shrewsbury Town.
South:
AFC Wimbledon, Barnet, Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham Town, Colchester United, Crawley Town, Exeter City, Leyton Orient, Luton Town, Newport County, Oxford United, Plymouth Argyle, Portsmouth, Southend United, Stevenage, Swindon Town, Wycombe Wanderers, Yeovil Town.