This season's EFL Cup is slowly but surely moving towards its final stages. The third round will be completed tonight with Manchester City's clash against Norwich (21.30), but the draw for the next phase has already taken place.The winner of the clash at the Etihad Stadium will host Brighton – the killers of Manchester United. The Seagulls were 2-0 down at Old Trafford after only 10 minutes, but they produced a miraculous comeback to beat Michael Carrick's men 3-2 and knock them out of the competition.Carrick's avengers are actually losers: United drop two-goal lead on League Cup farewellApart from that minor surprise, the only upset in the third round was the victory of the fourth-tier Fleetwood Town over the Championship side Sheffield United.Thanks to that win, the Fishermen have earned a dream tie for their fans, as they'll host the Premier League champions Arsenal at their Highbury Stadium – the Gunners are back at Highbury! – in the next round.🏆 The Round Four draw!#EFL | #CarabaoCup pic.twitter.com/QotDeNonAl— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) September 16, 2026 However, by far the biggest tie the draw produced is at Anfield, where Liverpool will lock horns with Chelsea in a blockbuster "Red vs Blue" showdown, with Xabi Alonso returning to his former home.Four more ties involve only Premier League sides – Everton-Newcastle, Sunderland-Brentford, Fulham-Crystal Palace and Bournemouth-Aston Villa – while League One (third flight) will certainly have a representative in the quarter-finals, thanks to the all-third-tier clash between Bradford City and Peterborough.The EFL Cup fourth-round ties are scheduled for the last week of October.EFL CUPRound 3TuesdayPeterborough – Barnsley 7-6 on penalties (3-3)/Leonard 19, Ormerod 27, 88 – McGeehan 1, Cleary 40, 74/West Ham – Fulham 2-3 (2-2)/Morato 16, Felipe 45+2 – Muniz 13, Palacios 37, Bobb 78/Ipswich – Arsenal 2-4 (0-2)/Mehmeti 62, Akpom 90+1 – Dowman 7, 47, Madueke 16, Merino 58/Liverpool – Tottenham 3-1 (1-0)/Mac Allister 21, Gakpo 54, Szoboszlai 90+1 – Gallagher 69/Reading – Brentford 1-2 (0-2)/O'Connor 72 – Wilson 3, Carvalho 45+1/WednesdayEverton – Wolverhampton 1-0 (0-0)/Alcaraz 80/Fleetwood – Sheffield United 1-0 (0-0)/Norrington-Davies 57 og/Coventry City – Aston Villa 1-3 (1-2)/Torp 27 – Abraham 7, 59, Barkley 40/Manchester United – Brighton 2-3 (2-1)/Lacey 8, Mount 10 – Kostoulas 45+1, Gross 65, De Cuyper 69/Thursday21.30: (1.12) Man.City (8.00) Norwich (16.0)***odds are subject to change***
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