Why is there no VAR in Carabao Cup as Chelsea and Arsenal enter third round?

Attention turns away from the Premier League this week with both Chelsea and Arsenal in midweek Carabao Cup action.

Both clubs enter the competition at the third round stage, due to their involvement in European competitions. The two sides will be looking to avoid an upset as they take on lower league opponents.

Chelsea kick the action off on Tuesday night when they face League Two Barrow at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal are in action 24 hours later when they take on League One side Bolton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium.

Both Enzo Maresca and Mikel Arteta are expected to make changes to their teams for the games, but both sides will also be clear favourites to make it through to the fourth round. If they do so, they will find out their next opponents in the fourth-round draw on Wednesday night.

There will however be one slight difference to both games. Despite the Carabao Cup being the first competition in English football to use VAR during the testing stages, the rules surrounding the technology are different, here is everything you need to know.

Is VAR used in the Carabao Cup?

The use of VAR in the Carabao Cup, is different to how it is used in the FA Cup later in the season. In the FA Cup, if the technology is available at the ground hosting the game then it is used, that is not the case when it comes to the Carabao Cup.

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The EFL, who run the competition, have taken the decision to not use VAR to ensure a fair competition across the board. Therefore, the technology won’t be in place for Chelsea’s third round tie against Barrow and Arsenal’s clash vs Bolton, despite both sides being at home.

Is VAR used later in the competition?

Yes, the plan is for the technology to be used for the first time in this year’s competition at the semi-final stage. The one situation where that will not be possible is if a team without the technology gets through to the final four.

If that is the case, then VAR will not be used until the final at Wembley Stadium, with both semi-finals not using the technology.