2018-19 Scottish League Cup

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Scottish League Cup 2018–19
Region	Scotland
Dates	14 July 2018 – 2 December 2018
Number of teams	44
Defending champions	Celtic
Total matches played	16
Total goals scored	33
Top goal scorer	Lawrence Shankland (3 goals)
← 2017–18	2019–20 →

The 2018–19 Scottish League Cup (also known as the Betfred Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 73rd season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition.

The format for the 2018–19 competition will remain the same as the previous two seasons.

It will begin with eight groups of five teams which include all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs, excluding those competing in Champions League and Europa League qualifiers, as well as the top teams from the 2017–18 Highland Football League (Cove Rangers) and the 2017–18 Lowland Football League (Spartans).

Schedule

Round	First match date	Fixtures	Clubs
Group stage	14 July 2018	80	44 → 16
Second round	18 August 2018	8	16 → 80
Quarter finals	25 September 2018	4	8 → 4
Semi finals	27 October 2018	2	4 → 2
Final	2 December 2018	1	2 → 1

Format

The competition will begin with eight groups of five teams. The four clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League (Celtic) and Europa League (Aberdeen, Hibernian and Rangers) qualifying rounds will be given a bye through to the second round. The 40 teams competing in the group stage will consist of the other eight teams that competed in the 2017–18 Scottish Premiership, and all of the teams that competed in the 2017–18 Scottish Championship, 2017–18 Scottish League One and 2017–18 Scottish League Two, as well as the 2017–18 Highland Football League and the 2017–18 Lowland Football League champions.

The winners of each of the eight groups, as well as the four best runners-up will progress to the second round (last 16), which will include the four UEFA qualifying clubs. At this stage, the competition will revert to the traditional knock-out format. The four group winners with the highest points total and the clubs entering at this stage will be seeded, with the four group winners with the lowest points unseeded along with the four best runners-up.

Bonus point system

In December 2015, the SPFL announced that alongside the new group stage format, a bonus point system would be introduced to provide greater excitement and increase the number of meaningful games at this stage. The traditional point system of awarding three points for a win and one point for a draw is used, however, for each group stage match that finishes in a draw, a penalty shoot-out takes place, with the winner being awarded a bonus point.

Group stage

Main article:2018–19 Scottish League Cup group stage

The group stage will be made up of eight teams from the 2017–18 Scottish Premiership, and all ten teams from each of the 2017–18 Scottish Championship, 2017–18 Scottish League One and 2017–18 Scottish League Two, as well as the winners of the 2017–18 Highland Football League and 2017–18 Lowland Football League. The 40 teams will be divided into two sections – North and South – with each section containing four top seeds, four second seeds and 12 unseeded teams. Each section will be drawn into four groups with each group comprising one top seed, one second seed and three unseeded teams. Seedings for the draw will be confirmed in due course.

The draw for the group stages will take place on 25 May 2018 and will be broadcast live on BT Sport 2.

North

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Ross County (Q)	4	3	0	1	6	4	+2	9	Qualification for the Second Round
Arbroath (A)	4	3	0	1	9	6	+3	8	Possible Second Round
Alloa Athletic (E)	4	3	0	1	8	5	+3	8
Dundee United (E)	4	1	1	2	6	3	+3	5
Elgin City (E)	4	0	0	4	0	2	−2	0

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
St Johnstone (Q)	4	4	0	0	5	1	+4	11	Qualification for the Second Round
Falkirk (A)	4	2	0	2	4	3	+1	6	Possible Second Round
Montrose (E)	4	2	0	2	3	4	−1	6
Forfar Athletic (E)	4	2	0	2	5	7	−2	5
East Fife (E)	4	0	0	4	2	2	0	2

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Cowdenbeath	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	3	Qualification for the Second Round
Inverness Caledonian Thistle	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	3	Possible Second Round
Heart of Midlothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cove Rangers	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	0
Raith Rovers	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2	0

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Brechin City	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	4	Qualification for the Second Round
Dundee	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4	3	Possible Second Round
Dunfermline Athletic	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	3
Stirling Albion	3	1	0	2	3	6	−3	3
Peterhead	3	0	2	1	0	5	−5	2

South

Group E

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
Ayr United	2	2	0	0	5	1	+4	6	Qualification for the Second Round
Partick Thistle	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	6	Possible Second Round
Stenhousemuir	3	1	0	2	4	4	0	3
Greenock Morton	3	1	0	2	4	5	−1	3
Albion Rovers	2	0	0	2	0	6	−6	0

Group F

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
									Qualification for the Second Round
									Possible Second Round

Group G

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
									Qualification for the Second Round
									Possible Second Round

Group H

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
									Qualification for the Second Round
									Possible Second Round

Best runners-up

2018-19 Scottish League Cup

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Queen of the South	4	3	0	1	12	5	+7	9	Qualification for the Second Round
2	Dundee	4	3	0	1	8	1	+7	9
3	St. Mirren	4	1	3	0	8	2	+6	9
4	Partick Thistle	4	3	0	1	6	3	+3	9
5	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	4	3	0	1	9	8	+1	9
6	Arbroath	4	2	1	1	9	6	+3	8
7	Airdrieonians	4	2	0	2	9	4	+5	7
8	Falkirk	4	2	0	2	4	3	+1	6

Source: [ BBC]
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Knockout phase

Second round

Draw and seeding

Aberdeen, Celtic, Hibernian and Rangers will enter the competition at this stage, after receiving a bye for the group stage due to their participation in UEFA club competitions.

The four UEFA-qualifying clubs and the four group winners with the best record will be seeded for the draw.

Seeded	Unseeded
Aberdeen Celtic Hibernian Rangers

Quarter-finals

Draw

The quarter-final draw will be unseeded.

Semi-finals

Draw

The semi-final draw will be unseeded.

Final

2 December 2018	Winners of semi-final 1	v	Winners of semi-final 2	Hampden Park, Glasgow

Top goalscorers

As of matches played on 1 July 2018

Rank	Player	Club	Goals

Media coverage

The domestic broadcasting rights for the competition are held exclusively by BT Sport.

External links

• Official website