The Athletic have revealed that from next season onward, the Carabao Cup will use a seeding mechanism for Tottenham Hotspur and the other teams who are in Europe, and have also taken steps to avoid fixture congestion during the early stages of the competition.
With Spurs being back in Europe next season, Ange Postecoglou will need a strong squad in order to be able to deal with the busier schedule.
The Tottenham head coach will want to end the club’s recent trophy drought and he will likely be eyeing the Carabao Cup as the ideal opportunity to do so, with the competition arguably being the easiest of the four to win.
Carabao Cup to introduce seeding mechanism
Spurs and the other six clubs who will be competing in the three European competitions have been handed a boost after it emerged that the Carabao Cup will use a seeding mechanism for those clubs, thus ensuring that they will not play each other in the third round.
Further, the third-round fixtures will be spread over two weeks as they clash with the start of the Champions League, Europa League and the Europa Conference League, thus alleviating fixture congestion.
The report adds that the dates for the potential European clashes during round five of the Carabao will also be considered once the competing clubs are confirmed to ensure there are no fixture pile-ups.
Spurs Web Opinion
This move and the decision to scrap the FA Cup replays are both welcome, with the authorities finally appearing to listen to the complaints of various managers about fixture congestion and its impact on player welfare.