Imps are ball No.16 in Carabao Cup first round draw

Carabao Cup ball at the LNER Stadium
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City will be ball No.16 in the Carabao Cup round one draw, which takes place live on Sky Sports News at 4.30pm on Thursday 25 June.

Round one of the competition features 70 clubs and is split into Northern and Southern sections. The tie will take place on the weekend of 8 August 2026.

Last season, the Imps opened their Carabao Cup campaign with a 3-1 win away at Harrogate Town, with Jack Moylan, Freddie Draper and Rob Street all on target as City progressed to the second round.

Northern section draw numbers in full:

1 Accrington Stanley 

2 Barnsley 

3 Blackburn Rovers 

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*

Tranmere Rovers v Rochdale is to be played on Saturday 1 August.