Carabao Cup Third Round draw live thread

UPDATE: 24th Aug, 4:40a BST

Took forever but Everton vs Sunderland is the second fixture out of the bag.. the pot.. the whatever. There. Everton vs Everton B. Good night all.

UPDATE: 23rd Aug, 11p BST / 6p EST

Everton will have ball #15 in the draw

Everton will enter the cup of many names at the Third Round stage along with the other teams that finished in the top seven last season, with the draw being conducted tonight/tomorrow depending on where you are.

The competition is currently called the Carabao Cup after the Thai energy drink took over the sponsorship of what was called the EFL Cup before that, and known as the League Cup many eons ago.

The change in name has not increased the importance of the tournament, though it does provide a route to Europe. Last year Everton benefited from this, with Manchester United winning the competition and also lifting the Europa League trophy, taking them straight to the Champions League and getting the Toffees into Europe.

WHEN IS THE DRAW?

The draw for the Third Round will take place at the god-awful time of 4:15am BST (10:15pm EST), thereby ensuring that very few of the fans of the teams involved will actually watch it live. Why is it at that time? Read on..

WHERE IS THE DRAW?

The draw is being conducted in China. That is all.

WHY IS IT IN CHINA?

Well, £££/$$$ of course. The First Round draw was held in Thailand, the home country of sponsors Carabao. The Third Round draw is being held in China to maximize exposure for Far East fans of the Premier League. It’ll be 11:15am local time there, which doesn’t sound like primetime there either, but what do we know.

WHOSE BRIGHT IDEA IS THIS?

Per an EFL spokesman -

“We understand that not everyone will agree on the timing of this week’s round-three draw, but in staging in this way, it will give the competition both the maximum exposure in the UK, Chinese and Southeast Asian markets.

“This is not only an important factor for the EFL but also our new sponsors Carabao, who, like ourselves, plan to use the growing global appeal of the competition to reach new audiences.”

WHERE TO WATCH IT?

UPDATE - Sky Sports News are showing this live

There is no livestream of the draw, so good luck. We hear that the Twitter account of the Carabao Cup will have live updates, so let’s see.

WHO IS IN IT?

There’s 32 teams in the Third Round, with the top seven from last year’s Premier League season entering here.

Top Seven: Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton.

Premier League: West Bromwich Albion, AFC Bournemouth, Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, Swansea City, Leicester City, Burnley, West Ham United, Huddersfield Town, Stoke City.

The Championship: Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers, Burton Albion, Sunderland, Leeds United, Brentford, Reading, Bristol City, Middlesbrough, Norwich City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Nottingham Forest

League One: Doncaster Rovers, Bristol Rovers.

WHEN IS THE THIRD ROUND PLAYED?

The fixtures are scheduled for the week of September 18th - Everton’s schedule that week has them away on Sunday the 17th at Manchester United, then home on Saturday 23rd against Bournemouth, so the Blues will likely play on Wednesday 20th.