EFL Cup PREVIEW 7 Aug 2026: Carabao Cup: Boro host Wrexham as first round kicks off

Middlesbrough's rebuild under Kim Hellberg gets its first competitive test against a Wrexham side aiming to build on a club-record seventh-place Championship finish. Both clubs enter with contrasting recent histories in this competition: Middlesbrough went out at this stage last season, beaten 4-0 by Doncaster Rovers, while Wrexham progressed all the way to the fourth round before Cardiff City ended their run. Phil Parkinson has said he will treat Friday's trip to the Riverside as an extension of pre-season, with the emphasis on building match sharpness ahead of the Championship opener, and Wrexham could hand a debut to a summer signing in midfield. Boro, who lost May's play-off final to Hull City, have overhauled their squad with a club-record outlay on Will Lankshear and the arrival of Sebastian Berhalter, and are among the favourites for automatic promotion this season.

Wolves open life back in the Championship at home to League Two's Port Vale, and it is César Peixoto's first competitive match in charge after replacing Rob Edwards in the close season. The clubs have not met in the League Cup since 1984, when Wolves won 2-1 on aggregate, and their last competitive meeting of any kind came in League One in January 2014, a 3-0 Wolves win at Molineux. Wolves go in as strong favourites after an unbeaten pre-season, though new winger Rafiki Saïd will miss the tie and the next two to three months with a knee injury picked up in the summer. Port Vale, under Jon Brady, arrive on the back of an unbeaten run of pre-season friendlies and have made a series of signings since relegation to League Two.

Wycombe host fellow League One side Stevenage at Adams Park in a fixture with little to separate the two clubs historically: Stevenage have won four of the last eight meetings, Wycombe the other four. Michael Duff's side have reached the second round in each of the last five seasons and went all the way to the fourth round of this competition last term before losing to Fulham. Stevenage, who lost their League One play-off semi-final to Stockport County in May, go into the tie with a fully fit squad after Luther James-Wildin's return from injury.