Carabao Cup draw live: Man United to face League Two side Grimsby in second round
11 Premier League clubs join those who have progressed from the first round
The Carabao Cup campaign continues as the first top-flight sides enter the competition as the draw for the second round is made.
The 11 Premier League clubs not competing in Europe this season join those who have progressed from the first round, with the remaining sides again split into a North and South section at the final regionalised stage. Among the big sides set to find out their fate are Manchester United, looking for a better season under Ruben Amorim, while Bournemouth and Brighton could be keen to continue their rise with a deep cup run.
League Two Bromley, having won their first Carabao Cup game by upsetting Ipswich, will be watching the draw eagerly as they await their opponents. The second-round ties will be played in the week commencing 25 August, with the rest of the Premier League contingent set to enter at the third-round stage.
Follow all of the latest from the second round draw with our live blog below:
Man United drawn away at League Two side Grimsby Town in Carabao Cup second round
Manchester United will travel to League Two Grimsby in the Carabao Cup second round as they attempt to bounce back from one of their worst seasons in recent history.
The 2023 winners will head for Blundell Park during the week beginning August 25 after being paired with the Mariners in Wednesday night's draw, in which they were the last team team out of the hat.
Elsewhere, there are all-Premier League clashes between Bournemouth and Brentford and Wolves and West Ham, while promoted Leeds face a trip to either Bolton or Sheffield Wednesday and Everton will host League One Mansfield at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Man Utd drawn away at League Two’s Grimsby in Carabao Cup second round
Premier League 2025/26 predictions: Champions, top four, relegation, best signing, top scorer and more
The Premier League is back and just 33 days after Chelsea appeared to bring the curtain down on the 2024/25 season with their thumping win in the Club World Cup final, champions Liverpool kick off their title defence against Bournemouth at Anfield.
The transfer window continues to rumble on with plenty of deals yet to materialise, which could shift the trajectory of many teams, notably Arne Slot’s side and Newcastle, with Alexander Isak’s future still in doubt.
Arsenal appear closer than ever after near misses in recent years, with Viktor Gyokeres brought in to spearhead Mikel Arteta’s title charge, while Pep Guardiola has rebuilt Man City quickly and Chelsea will hope to ride the momentum of their victory over PSG last month.
Manchester United’s lavish outlay has enabled them to revamp swiftly, Tottenham begin a new era under Thomas Frank, while newcomers Burnley, Leeds and Sunderland hope to avoid a quick return to the ever chaotic Championship.
Here, the Independent’s sports staff preview the new campaign and make their picks for the 2025/26 Premier League season:
Who will win the Premier League? Best signing and more predictions
After Manchester United hit rock bottom, are the good times finally coming?
If nothing else, Ruben Amorim does not try to sugarcoat things. The manager who had said he had perhaps the worst team in Manchester United’s history stood in the middle of the Old Trafford pitch and said: “Today, after this disaster season.” The disaster season: piercing as some of the criticisms of a campaign where United had fared worse than had seemed possible, few were as pithy as Amorim’s description. The rest of his message marked a real shift in tone. “I want to tell you the good days are coming,” he added.
That was May. In Amorim’s own timescale, therefore, the good days are arriving, beginning now. There is a sense they have to: not merely for Amorim, who was probably guilty of smiling exaggeration when he said on the pre-season tour of the United States that he wanted to stay for 20 years but is actually in the last two of his contract, but for the club.
Comparisons with the past are neither invariably accurate nor helpful, but the immediate precedent is of Erik ten Hag, retained after a disappointing season with the prospect the next could be better and sacked in October after some £200m of summer spending. Now Sir Jim Ratcliffe has disposed of some 450 members of staff but not Amorim. Furnished with new attackers, in Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, his summer outlay is up to around £200m.
After hitting rock bottom, are the good times finally coming for Manchester United?
Bromley's next challenge
After shocking Ipswich in the first round yesterday, Bromley will host Wycombe in Round Two.
Some might say an easier challenge - how far could the League Two side go this season?
When do the second round ties take place?
Round Two ties will take place in the week commencing 25 August.
The tie of the draw
How about that, then?
Grimsby Town have bagged themselves the plum draw and will host the goliaths of Manchester United in the second round of the Carabao Cup.
Anyone backing the League Two boys?
Tonight's fixtures
We’re not completely tied up with the Carabao Cup first round - here are the five games to be played tonight:
Barnsley v Fleetwood Town
Bolton Wanderers v Sheffield Wednesday
Cheltenham Town v Exeter City
Huddersfield Town v Leicester City
Birmingham City v Sheffield United
Carabao second round draw in full
Southern Section
Fulham v Bristol City
Norwich v Southampton
Oxford United v Brighton
Reading v AFC Wimbledon
AFC Bournemouth v Brentford
Millwall v Coventry
Wolves v West Ham
Swansea v Plymouth
Bromley v Wycombe
Cardiff v Cheltenham/Exeter
Cambridge United v Charlton
Northern Section
Tranmere/Burton v Lincoln
Accrington Stanley v Doncaster
Wigan v Stockport
Stoke v Bradford
Burnley v Derby
Sunderland v Huddersfield/Leicester
Birmingham/Sheffield United v Port Vale
Preston v Wrexham
Barnsley/Fleetwood v Rotherham
Bolton/Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds
Everton v Mansfield
Grimsby v Man United
Man United draw Grimsby Town in Carabao Cup second round
Talk about saving the best until last!
Manchester United will travel to League Two’s Grimsby Town in the second round of the Carabao Cup - that’s the big talking point of the draw, no doubt.
A full list of fixtures to come.
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