What time is Carabao Cup draw? Teams discover opponents for quarter-final ties

Carabao Cup holder Liverpool will take to the field at 7:30pm UK time today as it looks to book a place in the quarter-finals. The draw will take place later this evening.

Liverpool defeated Chelsea in the final last season, the second such result in three years. Virgil van Dijk scored the winning goal deep into extra time, having earlier seen one questionably chalked off, and Jurgen Klopp hailed it as his most special trophy at the club.

While Arne Slot will also have his sights set on more major honors, he would no doubt love to kick off his reign by retaining the trophy, with Liverpool the most successful side in the history of the competition. However, he faces a potentially tricky test away at Brighton, four days before he plays the same opponent at Anfield in the league.

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It was an ideal start to the Carabao Cup campaign last month. Liverpool entered at the third round as usual, bypassing the second by virtue of its league finish, and handed out a 5-1 drubbing to West Ham.

Incidentally, that was an exact repeat of the scoreline from one of the matches on last season's run to Wembley. This season's win was a little more nervy, with most of Liverpool's goals coming in a late flurry after West Ham had initially taken the lead, but Slot's men got the job done.

There's no break from Premier League opposition in the Round of 16. Brighton is flying high in sixth under new boss Fabian Hurzeler, so Liverpool will have its work cut out to reach the quarter-finals.

Assuming it does find a way to win, however, when will Liverpool find out its quarter-final fate? It won't have to wait long: the draw is penciled in for after Tottenham vs Manchester City, which kicks off 45 minutes after Liverpool's match starts.

As a result, the estimated time for the draw is around 22:30 UK time, although this could be delayed by any hold-ups in the Spurs match. Carabao Cup ties prior to the semi-finals do not go to extra time, but are instead immediately settled by penalty kicks, so a lengthy wait is not expected.

The draw will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event in the UK. Mark Chapman is scheduled to host, accompanied by Izzy Christiansen and former Liverpool player Jamie Redknapp.

Liverpool.com says: The big tests are coming thick and fast for Slot now. Liverpool would be doing well to emerge out of this match with a result, especially sandwiched between a trip to Arsenal and a repeat league fixture against Brighton.

But Liverpool will nonetheless back itself to be in this evening's draw. It has the strength and the depth to be able to compete on multiple fronts.