Carabao Cup first round draw ball numbers and time as Preston North End in the hat
A busy day of fixture news awaits in the English Football League
Preston North End will discover their Carabao Cup first round opponents this afternoon - after learning their Championship schedule.
League fixtures are to be announced at noon and the round one cup draw will follow at 4:30pm, live on Sky Sports News.
The competition will mark the start of the 2026/27 campaign with games taking place across the weekend of August 7-9.
Championship action will get under way the following weekend, with the second round of the Carabao Cup w/c August 24.
Ball numbers for the northern and southern sections have now been confirmed. A preliminary round will see Tranmere host Rochdale and Crawley visit York City.
Ball numbers in full
Northern
1. Accrington Stanley
2. Barnsley
4. Blackpool
5. Bolton Wanderers
6. Bradford City
7. Burnley
8. Burton Albion
9. Chesterfield
10. Crewe Alexandra
11. Derby County
12. Doncaster Rovers
13. Fleetwood Town
14. Grimsby Town
15. Huddersfield Town
16. Lincoln City
17. Mansfield Town
18. Middlesbrough
19. Notts County
20. Oldham Athletic
21. Port Vale
22. Preston North End
23. Rotherham United
24. Salford City
25. Sheffield United
26. Sheffield Wednesday
27. Shrewsbury Town
28. Stockport County
29. Stoke City
30. West Bromwich Albion
31. Wigan Athletic
32. Wolverhampton Wanderers
33. Wrexham
34. Tranmere Rovers or Rochdale
Southern
1. AFC Wimbledon
2. Barnet
3. Birmingham City
4. Bristol City
5. Bristol Rovers
6. Bromley
7. Cambridge United
8. Cardiff City
9. Charlton Athletic
10. Cheltenham Town
11. Colchester United
12. Exeter City
13. Gillingham
14. Leicester City
15. Leyton Orient
16. Luton Town
17. Millwall
18. Milton Keynes Dons
19. Newport County
20. Northampton Town
21. Norwich City
22. Oxford United
23. Peterborough United
24. Plymouth Argyle
25. Portsmouth
26. Queens Park Rangers
27. Reading
28. Southampton
29. Stevenage
30. Swansea City
31. Swindon Town
32. Walsall
33. Watford
34. West Ham United
35. Wycombe Wanderers
36. York City or Crawley Town