- The Carabao Cup will feature a seeding system from next season
- The aim is to reduce crowds on the playing field due to changes in the Champions League
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The Carabao Cup is set to undergo a shake-up ahead of next season and it will not go down well with the majority of supporters.
According to reports, the changes will be made in an effort to avoid bottlenecks in the fixture list at the start of the tournament.
The Champions League is preparing to launch its new extended format for the 2024-2025 season, which will see one of the group stage rounds directly clash with the Carabao Cup matches tentatively scheduled for the same week.
With Europa League clubs also set to be affected by the fixtures, the tournament will implement a ‘seeding mechanism’ to reduce potential congestion.
From Telegraph Sportsthe teams will be ranked so that teams playing in the Champions League do not face teams playing in the Europa League.
The Carabao Cup will undergo a format change with a seeding system introduced
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In addition, the Carabao Cup third round matches will be spread over two weeks to ensure they can be completed in a timely manner.
And fans have taken to social media to react to the upcoming changes, with one labeling them as ‘another shabby decision in this long death of the game’.
Another wrote: ‘What is the point of the competition at this point if you are going to develop it so specifically? This change is absolutely not necessary, just tinkering for the sake of change.’
One posted on The magic of the cup is quickly diminishing.
Another wrote: ‘Cup competitions are there to allow teams in the different divisions to compete against each other.
‘We have a weekly competition to ensure that teams of a similar level play against each other. They have actually managed to defeat the purpose of cup competitions.”