Carabao Cup draw: Who Sunderland, Leeds, Leicester and other Championship clubs could face

Sunderland will find out their first-round Carabao Cup opponents on the same day their fixtures are released for the 2023/24 Championship season.

Fixtures for the upcoming campaign will be released on Thursday, June 22 at 9am, with the season set to begin on the weekend starting Saturday, August 5.

The Carabao Cup draw will then take place at 2.30pm on Thursday, June 22 and be divided into Northern and Southern sections.

First-round matches will take place on the week commencing Monday, August 7.

All 24 Championship clubs, including the recently-demoted Leeds, Leicester and Southampton, are set to be involved in the first-round draw - despite some relegated sides receiving a bye in previous years.

The 12 Premier League teams not competing in Europe will then enter the competition in round two, with the remaining top-flight clubs entering the competition in round three.

Sunderland will be one of 38 teams in the Northern section of the first-round draw, which will also include newly-promoted League Two sides Wrexham and Notts County. The Black Cats will be ball number 33.

In previous seasons the Carabao Cup has not awarded prize money until the semi-final stage, while winners Manchester United gained just £100,000 following their victory over Newcastle in February’s final.

It’s also worth noting that each club usually receives 45% of the gate money per Carabao Cup match, with the remaining 10% going to the EFL.