The2020–21 EFL Cup was the 61st season of theEFL Cup (known as theCarabao Cup for sponsorship reasons), the competition is open to all clubs participating in thePremier League and theEnglish Football League.

Manchester City were the three-time defending champions, having retained the trophy in2020, defeatingAston Villa in the final atWembley Stadium in London on 1 March 2020.^[3][4] This was the first season that the winner of the competition qualified for the play-off round of the newly introducedUEFA Europa Conference League rather than the second qualifying round of theUEFA Europa League. It was also the first season where the semi-finals were single matches, instead of two-legged fixtures.

Manchester City won a fourth consecutive title, defeatingTottenham Hotspur 1–0 in thefinal and equallingLiverpool's overall tally of eight titles.^[5]

All 92 clubs in the Premier League and English Football League entered the season's EFL Cup. Access was distributed across the top 4 leagues of theEnglish football league system. For the first two rounds, the draw was regionalised into northern and southern clubs.

In the first round, 22 of 24Championship clubs and allLeague One, andLeague Two clubs entered.

The following round, the two remaining Championship clubsBournemouthandWatford (who finished 18th and 19th respectively in the2019–20 Premier League season), and thePremier League clubs not involved in either theChampions League orEuropa League entered.

Arsenal,Chelsea,Leicester City,Liverpool,Manchester City,Manchester United andTottenham Hotspur all received byes to the third round owing to their participation in European competitions.^[6]

A total of 70 clubs played in the first round: 24 fromLeague Two (tier 4), 24 fromLeague One (tier 3), and 22 from theChampionship (tier 2). The draw for this round was split on a geographical basis into 'northern' and 'southern' sections. Teams were drawn against a team from the same section. Matches were played on the weekend of 5 September 2020, however some matches were moved a week earlier due to that weekend being aFIFA international window.^[7] The draw was conducted onSky Sports News byPaul Merson on 18 August 2020.^[8]

A total of 50 teams played in the second round; the 35 winners from the first round were joined withBournemouth andWatford from the Championship, as well as the 13Premier League clubs that were not involved in European competitions. The draw for this round was split on a geographical basis into 'northern' and 'southern' sections. Teams were drawn against a team from the same section. The draw was made on 6 September 2020 byPhil Babb.^[9] The ties were played on the week commencing 14 September 2020.

A total of 32 teams played in this round.Arsenal,Chelsea,Leicester City,Liverpool,Manchester City,Manchester United, andTottenham Hotspur entered in this round due to their European qualification and would join the 25 winners of the second round. The draw was made on 6 September 2020 byPhil Babb.^[9] The ties were played on the week commencing 21 September 2020.

Originally set for 22 September 2020, the tie betweenLeyton Orient and Tottenham Hotspur was postponed after multiple Orient players tested positive forCOVID-19.^[10] On 25 September, it was confirmed that Tottenham had received a bye into the fourth round, due to Orient's inability to fulfil the fixture.^[11]

A total of 16 teams played in this round. The draw was conducted on 17 September 2020 byLaura Woods andLee Hendrie live onSky Sports. The ties were played on the week commencing 28 September 2020.^[12] League Two sideNewport County was the only club from the bottom two divisions of the EFL to participate in this round.

Eight teams played in this round. The draw was conducted on 1 October 2020 following the Liverpool v Arsenal match live onSky Sports and was made byJamie Redknapp.^[13] The ties were played on the week commencing 21 December 2020.^[1] Championship sidesBrentford andStoke City were the only non-Premier League clubs to participate in this round.

Brentford (2) vNewcastle United (1)

22 December 2020	Brentford (2)	1–0	Newcastle United (1)	Brentford, London
17:30GMT	Dasilva 66'	Report		Stadium:Brentford Community Stadium Attendance: 0[a] Referee:Robert Jones

Arsenal (1) vManchester City (1)

22 December 2020	Arsenal (1)	1–4	Manchester City (1)	Islington, London
20:00GMT	Lacazette 31'	Report	Gabriel Jesus 3' Mahrez 54' Foden 59' Laporte 73'	Stadium:Emirates Stadium Attendance: 0[a] Referee:Stuart Attwell

Stoke City (2) vTottenham Hotspur (1)

23 December 2020	Stoke City (2)	1–3	Tottenham Hotspur (1)	Stoke-on-Trent
17:30GMT	Thompson 53'	Report	Bale 22' Davies 70' Kane 81'	Stadium:bet365 Stadium Attendance: 0[a] Referee:Darren England

Four teams played in this round. The draw was conducted on 23 December 2020 following the Everton v Manchester United match live onSky Sports and was made byDarren Bent.^[15] 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 sideBrentford were the only non-Premier League club to participate in this round.

The final was played on 25 April 2021 atWembley Stadium,^[2] having been rescheduled from 28 February 2021.^[1]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[16]
1	Tristan Abrahams	Newport County	4
	Sébastien Haller	West Ham United
3	Dominic Calvert-Lewin	Everton	3
	James Collins	Luton Town
	Kai Havertz	Chelsea
	Lucas João	Reading
	Lewis Montsma	Lincoln City
	Richarlison	Everton
	Hal Robson-Kanu	West Bromwich Albion