Continuity and calculated risks pay off for lower leagues in Carabao Cup

It is a competition that gave Phil Foden the inspiration to name his French bulldog Carabao and one in which Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jude Bellingham made their debuts en route to establishing themselves as key figures for club and country. The Carabao Cup commenced at the start of this month with Cambridge United edging out Millwall, four days after the start of the Football League season and three before the Premier League removed its sunglasses, shook off its flip-flops and returned to our screens. That game at the Abbey Stadium went under the radar to most but it offered a snapshot of a trend that has seen a dozen Championship clubs exit the cup to lower-league opposition.

The games were played out, of course, as also with the FA Cup, amid a backdrop of changes to teams’ regular starting lineups. For some clubs, it was a calculated risk that paid off. Blackburn Rovers, top of the Championship, breezed past Hartlepool 4-0 despite making 10 changes, with brothers Scott and Adam Wharton playing together for the first time, the latter making his debut aged 18. Others were left with egg on their face.

Luton made 11 changes but came unstuck to Newport County, giant-killers in cup competitions in recent years who themselves made eight changes.

Sunderland also named an entirely different team for their defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, who elected to make eight changes. On Thursday West Bromwich Albion host Sheffield United, with changes a given. Only six of the 22 Championship clubs that arrived in the first round will appear in the second, though three matches were games between division rivals.

It is too easy to talk down the competition as the ugly duckling of English domestic football but the numbers suggest a more