A new name but the same competition after Capital One took over from Carling to sponsor the Football League Cup on a four year contract from this season onwards, with Carlisle joining in at the round one stage with 69 other clubs. United easily making into the seeded sides in the northern section of the draw, which is only regionalised in the opening stage of the competittion and which will see the Blues face one of the unseeded teams.
There are still some sides certainly worth avoiding in the unseeded group home or away when the draw is made on Thursday morning at 10am though, Preston North End in particular sticking out like a sore thumb in the unseeded section. Oldham Athletic being in there as a potential draw as well, United last year defeating the Latics 4-2 on penalties in round one following a 1-1 draw.
The competition this year, due to the Olympics in London, being the opening game of the season as it takes place for the Blues more than likely on the evening of Tuesday the 14th of August, although it could perhaps be pulled forward to Saturday the 11th, depending on their opponents, with the Cumbrians still having a spare date that day. Meanwhile, the league programme then starts the following Saturday, on the 18th of August.
The full list of seeds and non-seeds, broken down into 16 each in the north and 19 each in the south, is as follows :
North - Seeded
1.Barnsley
2.Blackpool
3.Burnley
4.Carlisle United
5.Derby County
6.Doncaster Rovers
7.Hartlepool United
8.Huddersfield Town
9.Hull City
10.Leeds United
11.Middlesbrough
12.Nottingham Forest
13.Notts County
14.Sheffield United
15.Sheffield Wednesday
16.Tranmere Rovers
North - Unseeded
1.Accrington Stanley
2.Bradford City
3.Burton Albion
4.Bury
5.Chesterfield
6.Crewe Alexandra
7.Fleetwood Town
8.Morecambe
9.Oldham Athletic
10.Port Vale
11.Preston North End
12.Rochdale
13.Rotherham United
14.Scunthorpe United
15.Shrewsbury Town
16.York City
South - Seeded
1.AFC Bournemouth
2.Birmingham City
3.Brentford
4.Brighton & Hove Albion
5.Bristol City
6.Cardiff City
7.Charlton Athletic
8.Colchester United
9.Coventry City
10.Crystal Palace
11.Ipswich Town
12.Leicester City
13.Millwall
14.MK Dons
15.Peterborough United
16.Portsmouth
17.Stevenage
18.Watford
19.Wolverhampton Wanderers
South - Unseeded
1.AFC Wimbledon
2.Aldershot Town
3.Barnet
4.Bristol Rovers
5.Cheltenham Town
6.Crawley Town
7.Dagenham & Redbridge
8.Exeter City
9.Gillingham
10.Leyton Orient
11.Northampton Town
12.Oxford United
13.Plymouth Argyle
14.Southend United
15.Swindon Town
16.Torquay United
17.Walsall
18.Wycombe Wanderers
19.Yeovil Town
Round One - (week commencing 13th August) - competing are all Championship, League One and League Two clubs apart from Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers (two highest placed finishers last season).
Round Two (week commencing 27th August) - Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers enter the competition alongside the 13 Premier League clubs who didn't qualify for Europe last season. Those clubs being Aston Villa, Everton, Fulham, Norwich City, Queens Park Rangers, Reading, Southampton, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham and Wigan Athletic.
Round Three (week commencing 24th September) - the seven Premier League clubs that have qualified for Europe enter the competition. Those clubs being Arsenal, Chelsea, holders Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Round Four (week commencing 29th October).
Quarter-Finals (week commencing 10th December).
Semi-Final Leg One (week commencing 7th January).
Semi-Final Leg Two (week commencing 21st January).
Final - (Sunday 24th February).