Manchester United, Chelsea and the other Premier League heavyweights will discover their first Carabao Cup opponents of the season on Wednesday night.
Any team competing in a European competition was given a bye for the first two rounds of the tournament, which was won by Liverpool last season. They instead enter at the third round stage, which will take place at the start of November.
Seven Premier League sides in all were able to secure byes, with Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester City and West Ham joining the three teams already mentioned. Of the teams to feature in the second round, nine have so far made it through.
Fulham did though suffer a shock defeat to Crawley Town, with the Carabao Cup having a history of lower league sides progressing far into the competition. The likes of Crawley, Stevenage and Morecambe will be hoping for a glamour tie in the next round of games after progressing.
There were several upsets in the second round of games, with MK Dons easing past Watford, Derby defeating West Brom and Gillingham making it past Exeter. All of the lower league sides will be hoping to replicate Bradford City’s famous run to the final in 2013.
The Bantams defeated Wigan, Arsenal and Aston Villa as they reached Wembley, with all three having been Premier League teams at the time. That set the blueprint for other minnows hoping to make it to February’s final.
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They will find out their opponents following Newcastle’s trip to Tranmere Rovers. Liverpool legends John Barnes and John Aldridge, who both won the League Cup as players, will be conducting the draw.
Three other second round ties will be held on Wednesday, with Brighton travelling to Forest Green Rovers, Leeds hosting Barnsley and Bristol City taking on Wycombe Wanderers. All the teams already know their ball numbers, with no replays being held in the Carabao Cup.
Arsenal will be ball number two, Chelsea are number eight, Liverpool are 16, Manchester City are 17 and United are 18, with Spurs number 26. The numbers are assigned in alphabetical order, aside from the final four ties, with both teams involved given the same.
Third round ball numbers in full
1 AFC Bournemouth
2 Arsenal
3 Aston Villa
4 Blackburn Rovers
5 Brentford
6 Burnley
7 Charlton Athletic
8 Chelsea
9 Crawley Town
10 Crystal Palace
11 Derby County
12 Everton
13 Gillingham
14 Leicester City
15 Lincoln City
16 Liverpool
17 Manchester City
18 Manchester United
19 Milton Keynes Dons
20 Morecambe
21 Newport County
22 Nottingham Forest
23 Sheffield Wednesday
24 Southampton
25 Stevenage
26 Tottenham Hotspur
27 West Ham United
28 Wolverhampton Wanderers
29 Forest Green Rovers or Brighton & Hove Albion
30 Leeds United or Barnsley
31 Tranmere Rovers or Newcastle United
32 Wycombe Wanderers or Bristol City
