The 2018-19 Carabao Cup starts this evening with a host of games up and down the country as the road to Wembley begins in earnest.
Aston Villa will be looking to avoid an upset as they travel to Huish Park to take on Yeovil in what is arguably the pick of the round one ties.
There are 34 games in all on Tuesday evening while Sheffield Wednesday must wait until Thursday for their trip to the Stadium of Light to face Sunderland.
But the competition has undergone an overhaul this year with some notable rule changes.
No extra-time
The biggest change to this year's competition is
that extra-time has been scrapped in the event of a draw after 90 minutes.
Stalemates will now go straight to a penalty shootout with the winner being decided on spot-kicks.
The EFL hope the removal of extra-time will minimise clubs' concerns over fatigue and in turn lead to stronger teams being fielded.
“Withdrawing the additional 30 minutes of play would directly address any additional fatigue issues that are occasionally caused when the midweek ties go beyond the traditional 90-minute period,” they said.
Revert to ABAB penaltiesLast season, the ABBA system was trialled in penalty shootouts in EFL competitions.
The Checkatrade Trophy and Carabao Cup used the system, which involves the team shooting second taking consecutive penalties before their opponents doing likewise.
But this year, it will revert to ABAB, the traditional method, after fears supporters were confused last term.
Seeding abolishedUp until this season, sides had been seeded in the first two rounds of the competition.
But that has been scrapped this term - with sides from all divisions able to draw each other.
However, the competition is still regionalised for the first two rounds on a north and south basis.
Yellow cards do not contribute to league suspensionYellow cards picked up in the Carabao Cup have ordinarily contributed to suspensions in the league.
Five bookings in all domestic competitions would lead to a one-game ban.
However, bookings picked up in the tournament this term will only be relevant to the League Cup.
VAR to be rolled out throughout the competitionLast season, VAR was used in the Carabao Cup semi-finals and final.
However, this year it will be rolled out throughout each round in games at Premier League grounds.
