EFL Cup 2020-21 was the 61st season of the EFL Cup (known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons), the competition is open to all clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League.
Manchester City were the reigning champions, having secured their third consecutive title by defeating Aston Villa in the final at Wembley Stadium in London on March 1, 2020. This season marked the first time that the competition’s winner qualified for the play-off round of the newly introduced UEFA Europa Conference League, rather than the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. It was also the inaugural season where the semi-finals were played as single matches instead of the traditional two-legged format.
Manchester City clinched their fourth consecutive title by defeating Tottenham Hotspur 1–0 in the final, equalling Liverpool’s total of eight titles.
Champions: 
Manchester City (8th title)
Runner-up: 
Tottenham Hotspur
Top Goal Scorer: 
Tristan Abrahams and 
Sébastien Haller, 4 goal
EFL Cup 2020-21 Fourth round
A total of 16 teams played in this round. The draw was conducted on 17 September 2020 by Laura Woods and Lee Hendrie live on Sky Sports. The ties were played on the week commencing 28 September 2020. League Two side Newport County was the only club from the bottom two divisions of the EFL to participate in this round.
Date Team 1 Result Team 2
29 September 2020 Tottenham Hotspur1 – 1
5 – 4 (penalties)
Chelsea
30 September 2020 
Newport County1 – 1
4 – 5 (penalties)
Newcastle United
30 September 2020 
Burnley0 – 3 Manchester City
30 September 2020 
Brighton0 – 3 
Manchester United
30 September 2020 
Everton4 – 1 
West Ham United
1 October 2020 
Brentford3 – 0 
Fulham
1 October 2020 
Aston Villa0 – 1 
Stoke City
1 October 2020 
Liverpool0 – 0
4 – 5 (penalties)
Arsenal
EFL Cup 2020-21 Quarter Finals
Eight teams played in this round. The draw was conducted on 1 October 2020 following the Liverpool v Arsenal match live on Sky Sports and was made by Jamie Redknapp. The ties were played on the week commencing 21 December 2020. Championship sides Brentford and Stoke City were the only non-Premier League clubs to participate in this round.
Date Team 1 Result Team 2
22 December 2020 Brentford1 – 0 Newcastle United
22 December 2020 Arsenal1 – 4 Manchester City
23 December 2020 Stoke City1 – 3 Tottenham Hotspur
23 December 2020 Everton0 – 2 Manchester United
EFL Cup 2020-21 Semi Finals
Four teams played in this round. The draw was conducted on 23 December 2020 following the Everton v Manchester United match live on Sky Sports and was made by Darren Bent. This round was played on a single-leg basis like the rest of the tournament (in previous years the semi-finals were two-legged home and away fixtures). Championship side Brentford were the only non-Premier League club to participate in this round.
Date Team 1 Result Team 2 Stadium
5 January 2021 Tottenham Hotspur2–0 BrentfordTottenham Hotspur Stadium
6 January 2021 Manchester United0–2 Manchester CityOld Trafford
EFL Cup 2020-21 Final match
25 April 2021 16:30 BST, Wembley Stadium, London
| Manchester City |
1 – 0 | Tottenham Hotspur |
Laporte  82′ |
EFL Cup 2020-21 Top Goal Scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Tristan Abrahams Newport County4
2 Sébastien Haller West Ham United4
3 Dominic Calvert-Lewin Everton3
4 
James Collins
Luton Town3
5 
Kai Havertz Chelsea3
6 
Lucas João
Reading3
7 
Lewis Montsma
Lincoln City3
8 
Richarlison Everton3
9 
Hal Robson-Kanu
West Bromwich Albion3
Qualification Process
All 92 clubs from the Premier League and the English Football League participated in this season’s EFL Cup. The tournament was open to teams from the top four divisions of the English football league system, with the draw for the first two rounds being regionalized into northern and southern sections.
In the first round, 22 out of 24 Championship clubs, along with all League One and League Two clubs, entered the competition.
In the second round, the two remaining Championship clubs, Bournemouth and Watford (who finished 18th and 19th in the 2019–20 Premier League season), joined the Premier League clubs not involved in either the Champions League or the Europa League.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur were given byes to the third round due to their participation in European competitions.
