Football betting tips: Carabao Cup
1pt Draw after 90 minutes at 3/1 (General)
Not since 2012 has the EFL season begun with Cup rather than league action.
Of those 35 first-round ties, 13 were level after 90 minutes.
A couple of things have changed since then. A preliminary round is now needed for the four lowest-ranked clubs because of the growing number of English teams qualifying for Europe, while extra time has been scrapped at this stage.
The Carabao Cup proper got under way at Ashton Gate on Thursday, where 7/1 outsiders Walsall won 1-0 at Bristol City.
After three low-key ties hidden away on Sky Sports+, Friday night feels like the competition actually starts as Championship promotion hopefuls Middlesbrough and Wrexham meet live on ITV1; you can still watch on Sky if you insist.
Boro may have a different manager in Kim Hellberg, but this is largely the same squad that started last season with five wins and a draw from their opening six Championship matches but still managed to lose 4-0 at home to newly-promoted League One club Doncaster in this competition. A year earlier, they followed an opening-round win at Leeds by suffering a 5-0 home thrashing by Stoke.
Early-round EFL Cup ties are rarely the place to trust short-priced favourites, and there are enough reasons to oppose Boro at 4/6 against a divisional rival as strong as Phil Parkinson's side, who are 4/1 to win in 90 minutes.
Wrexham finished last season strongly, missing out on the play-offs by just two points, and have recruited well over the summer to suggest they can carry that momentum into this campaign.
Parkinson has tended to embrace this competition since they returned to the EFL. Wrexham reached the fourth round last season, led at recently relegated Premier League side Sheffield United before eventually losing 4-2 in 2024, and were beaten only on penalties in the second round the previous year.
Middlesbrough, meanwhile, may need time to adjust after losing key duo Hayden Hackney and Dael Fry, while it remains to be seen what effect last season's collapse, which ultimately cost them promotion, has had.
At the prices, THE DRAW at 3/1 is advised.
These teams are much closer than the market suggests, and with ties going straight to penalties after 90 minutes, neither is likely to feel compelled to force the issue late on.
Both their league meetings ended level last season - 1-1 at the Riverside in October and a 2-2 draw on the final day at the Racecourse.
Odds correct at 12:30 BST (7/8/26)
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