Football League Cup 2010-11

The 2010–11 Football League Cup, known as the Carling Cup due to the competition's sponsorship by lager brand Carling, is the 51st season of the Football League Cup, a knock-out competition for England's top 92 football clubs.

Each season, the League Cup winners – like the winners of the FA Cup – are granted a place in the UEFA Europa League for the following season. However, in cases where a team has already gained a place in European competition via their league position or progress in other cup competitions, their place in the Europa League is deferred to the next-placed league side.

Manchester United are the defending champions for the second successive season.

First round
The draw for the First Round took place on 16 June 2010, with matches played two months later in the week beginning 9 August 2010.

Burnley and Hull City received a first round bye as the highest ranked Football League teams from the previous season's league placings. The other 70 of the 72 Football League clubs competed in the First Round, divided into North and South sections. Each section was divided equally into a pot of seeded clubs and a pot of unseeded clubs. Clubs' rankings depend upon their finishing position in the 2009–10 season.

1 Score after 90 minutes

Second round
The 13 Premier League teams not involved in European competitions will enter at this stage along with the winners from the First Round plus Burnley and Hull City, who received a First Round bye. If there is a draw at full time they will have extra time followed by penalties. From the Second Round onwards, the teams are no longer split geographically. The draw for the Second Round will take place on 12 August 2010, after the First Round games had been completed, and the matches will be played in the week beginning 23 August 2010.

Third round
The seven Premier League teams involved in European competition enter at this stage, along with the winners from the Second Round. The draw for the Third Round will take place on 28 August 2010, after the Second Round games had been played. The matches played in the week beginning 20 September 2010.

Fourth round
The draw for the Fourth Round will take place after the Third Round games had been played, on 25 September 2010, and the matches will be played on the week beginning on 25 October 2010.

Fifth Round
The Fifth Round draw will take place on 30 October 2010, with the matches to be played in the week commencing 29 November 2010.

Semi-finals
The semi-final draw will take place after the completion of the Fifth Round matches. The round consists of two-legged ties. The first leg matches will be played the week commencing 10 January 2011, with the second leg matches in the week commencing 24 January 2011.

Final
The final will be played at Wembley Stadium, London on 27 February 2011.

Prize money
The prize money is awarded by the Football League. The winners of the League Cup win £100,000 and the runners-up win £50,000. The losing semi-finalists each will take home £25,000.