EFL Cup 3rd Round: Manchester City Kick-Off Cup Title Defense

The EFL Cup returns this week with the seven English Premier League clubs in this season’s European competitions joining the fray at this round. Here are a few games going on this week to look forward to.

Tuesday
Manchester City vs Wycombe Wanderers

Manchester City kick-off their cup title defense with a visit from League One outfit Wycombe Wanderers. This will be a great chance for Pep Guardiola to rotate his squad and give the youngsters a chance to show what they got.

Eliminating Exeter City and Stevenage in the first two rounds, Gareth Ainsworth’s Chairboys will surely relish the opportunity to cause a massive upset against the four-time defending champs.

Norwich City vs Liverpool

One of four Premier League matchups in this round; it will be the second meeting of the season between these two, the Merseysiders already topping the Canaries 3-0 in the Premier League to start the campaign.

Norwich will look to end a 15 game winless run against Liverpool, with their last win over tomorrow night’s opposition coming in 1994.

Wednesday
Arsenal vs AFC Wimbledon

Mikel Arteta’s Gunners will partake in yet another London Derby as League One’s AFC Wimbledon will take the short trek to the Emirates for Wednesday evening’s encounter.

While it has not been a great start to the season for the Gunners, Wimbledon are flying in League One, finding themselves in 7th after 8 games played. Although it’s a must-win game for Arteta’s side, expect some youngsters to take the pitch for Arsenal.

Chelsea vs Aston Villa

Another match that has already taken place in this young season was a walk in the park for the Blues who enjoyed a 3-0 success over Villa in a Premier League meeting on Matchday 4.

Despite the expected switch of personnel for both squads, Thomas Tuchel’s troops will have confidence aplenty to continue their unbeaten start to the campaign.

Manchester United vs West Ham United

Three days removed from the Red Devil’s late victory at the Olympic Stadium, the Red Devils will now welcome the Hammers to the Theatre of Dreams on Wednesday night.

West Ham will look to win at Old Trafford for the first time since 2007. The games are coming thick and fast for both sides, who had European duties last week and will be back at it again next week in more cup action.

Wolves vs Tottenham

Repeat matches seem to be the theme of The EFL Cup third round as these two already squared off as well in the league. This time, it will be very different teams heading into Wednesday night’s match.

Nuno Espirito Santo once again returns to Molineux hoping to replicate Spurs’ narrow success back on Matchday 2. Wolves have just 3 points from their opening 5 Premier League matches, so a win here be a significant boost to Bruno Lage’s men.

Full fixture list (all times at 20:45 CET)
Tuesday

• Brentford vs Oldham Athletic
• Burnley vs Rochdale
• Fulham vs Leeds United
• Manchester City vs Wycombe Wanderers
• Norwich City vs Liverpool
• Preston North End vs Cheltenham
• Queens Park Rangers vs Everton
• Sheffield United vs Southampton
• Watford vs Stoke City
• Wigan Athletic vs Sunderland

Wednesday

• Brighton vs Swansea City
• Arsenal vs AFC Wimbledon
• Chelsea vs Aston Villa
• Manchester United vs West Ham United
• Millwall vs Leicester City
• Wolves vs Tottenham Hotspur