We begin our EFL Cup round-ups with the six Premier League clubs who were in action on Tuesday.
The three newly promoted sides and Brentford saw off Football League opponents to progress, while Leeds United prevailed in the all-top-tier clash with Nottingham Forest.
We’ll bring you up to speed with all you need to know from a Fantasy perspective, from minutes played and injuries to any wider talking points.
RESULTS
| Team | Opponent | Result | Goals | Assists | Leading DefCons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brentford | Birmingham (a) | 6-1 win | Wilson, Hickey, Collins x2, Damsgaard, Thiago | Yarmoliuk, Anthony x3, Sangaré | Anthony (10) Yarmoliuk (9) Damsgaard (9) |
| Coventry | Plymouth (a) | 4-2 win | Awoniyi, Rudoni, Mason-Clark, Torp pen | Yirenkyi, Awoniyi, Torp, Thomas-Assante | Kitching (9) |
| Hull | Stoke (a) | 1-1 draw (won 5-4 pens) | Dowell | Millar | Omur (13) Herrington (9) |
| Ipswich | Leicester (h) | 3-1 win | Egeli, Nunez x2 | Clarke, Akpom, Humphreys | Nunez (12) |
| Leeds | Nottm Forest (a) | 2-0 win | James, Justin | Longstaff | Ampadu (20) Elvedi (11) Justin (9) Tanaka (9) |
| Nottm Forest | Leeds (h) | 0-2 loss | – | – | Milenkovic (13) Schlager (12) Dominguez (10) |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| Team | No. of starting XI changes made from GW1 | Players who kept their places (mins played) | Mins for other players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brentford | 8 | Collins (90), Janelt (71), Ouattara (45) | Valdimarsson (90), Hickey (90), Schuster (90), Damsgaard (90), Anthony (90), Henry (71), Wilson (62), Yarmoliuk (48), Schade (45), Sangare (42), Thiago (28), Lewis-Potter (19), Kayode (19) |
| Coventry | 9 | Yirenkyi (70), Thomas (45) | Bentley (90), Latibeaudiere (90), Kitching (90), Bidwell (90), Sakamoto (90), Torp (90), Hamer (70), Awoniyi (70), Rudoni (62), Amenda (45), Mason-Clark (28), Eccles (20), Thomas-Assante (20), Sherif (20) |
| Hull | 11 | – | Phillips (90), Drameh (90), McNair (90), Herrington (90), Gourna (90), Millar (90), Dowell (81), Akintola (81), Targett (77), Omur (77), Hjerto-Dahl (59), Morita (31), Belloumi (13), Stroud (13), Sellars-Fleming (9), Slater (9) |
| Ipswich | 9 | O’Shea (90), Nunez (89) | Walton (90), Furlong (90), Kipre (90), Humphreys (90), Walle Egeli (90), Akpom (90), Clarke (81), McAteer (80), Ouattara (63), Davis (27), Mendel (10), Maeda (9), Compton (1) |
| Leeds | 6 | Trafford (90), Rodon (90), Muharemovic (90), Ampadu (90), Justin (90) | Elvedi (90), Nmecha (83), James (71), Tanaka (68), Longstaff (67), Okafor (67), Aaronson (23), Wilson (23), Stach (22), Bogle (19), Calvert-Lewin (7) |
| Nottm Forest | 5 | Sels (90), Cunha (90), Milenkovic (90), Williams (79), Aina (61), Jesus (60) | Schlager (90), Dominguez (90), Wood (90), Kalimuendo (60), Diomande (60), Murillo (30), Hudson-Odoi (30), Ndoye (30), Netz (29), Hutchinson (11) |
SCOUT NOTES
BRENTFORD
- Another thrashing meted out by the Bees, who have now scored 20 goals in their last four matches (including friendlies)!
- Most of the Gameweek 1 XI enjoyed rests. Even one of the three who kept his place, Dango Ouattara (£6.5m), was limited to 45 minutes. He and replacement Kevin Schade (£6.0m) had a half each.
- Not that there’s much chance of Mamadou Sangare (£5.6m) being a rotation risk in the Premier League, but it’s always reassuring to hear that one of his positional rivals, Yehor Yarmoliuk (£5.0m), is an ongoing fitness concern. The young Ukrainian midfielder had limited pre-season minutes and was replaced not long after half-time here – by Sangare.
“Yarmo’s had a slightly disrupted pre-season. He took the end of last season off with a slight issue he was having that we had to look after. He’s been building carefully and he’s still not up to full speed yet. We just constantly need to be looking after him for the foreseeable future” – Keith Andrews
- Jaidon Anthony (£6.0m) played the full game, spending time on each flank as Ouattara and Schade traded places at half-time. The former Burnley winger delivered a hat-trick of assists, one from a recycled set play and two from quick transitions. No other Bee delivered more defensive contributions (DefCons, 10), either.
- Brentford’s set pieces were again a strength, just as they had been against Spurs. Nathan Collins (£5.5m), one of the three players to keep their place, had more attempts (four) than any of his teammates. Two found the back of the net.
- Sangare delivered yet another attacking return, assisting Collins with a chip from another dead-ball situation. The Malian midfielder only registered three DefCons in his 42 minutes, however.
- Igor Thiago (£8.0m), rested for the first hour, tapped in Brentford’s sixth. His deputy, Callum Wilson (£5.5m), had opened the scoring from outside the area.
COVENTRY CITY
- Again, Frank Lampard was clearly looking to Gameweek 2 with his team selection here. Only Caleb Yirenkyi (£5.0m) and Bobby Thomas (£4.0m) kept their places, with the latter given just 45 minutes. Thomas shared pitch-time with Aurelie Amenda (£4.0m), who came on at the interval.
- The good news for Thomas and Amenda owners is that one of their positional rivals, Liam Kitching (£4.0m), had a shocker for Plymouth’s second goal, being dispossessed 40 yards out by goalscorer Xavier Amaechi. Argyle indeed had a spell on top on either side of half-time as they came back from 2-0 down to level the scores.
- Ellis Simms (£5.0m) owners will be feeling more jittery. Taiwo Awoniyi (£5.5m) led the line for Coventry here and had a goal and assist to his name within five minutes, finishing from a clever flick by Yirenkyi and then playing in Jack Rudoni (£5.0m) for the Sky Blues’ second goal. The Nigerian striker was lively, nodding wide a big chance and then almost getting a second assist for Rudoni. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Awoniyi start in Gameweek 2, particularly as he was replaced after 70 minutes.
- It may be too soon for a Premier League start for attacking midfielder Rudoni after so long out. He missed all of pre-season, and this was his first start since April.
- Victor Torp (£5.5m) teed up substitute Ephron Mason-Clark (£5.5m) for a tap-in before scoring a penalty to make it 4-2. Torp was in the spot-kick mix in 2025/26 but he’ll likely not start many league games this season.
HULL CITY
- Hull boss Sergej Jakirovic rotated his entire starting XI here, so we can expect the side that defeated Manchester United to go again in Gameweek 2 – injuries permitting.
- Speaking of those, Nobel Mendy (£4.0m) and Ryan Giles (£4.0m) were on the bench after recovering from injury scares at the weekend. The other two casualties, Lewie Coyle (£4.0m) and Semi Ajayi (£4.0m), weren’t part of the squad at Stoke, but it sounds like they’ll be fine for Saturday.
“We didn’t have injuries like they need four, five, six weeks [out]. It’s just a precaution. I decided to spare some players because they are very important for Saturday.” – Sergej Jakirovic on the injuries picked up in Gameweek 1
- David Akintola (£5.0m), who is a winger, led the line as Oli McBurnie (£5.5m) was rested. It sounds like McBurnie will soon get proper competition/relief up top, however.
“We know that we don’t have second, or even third option as a striker. Maybe we will get two more strikers.
“I think that we are very close [to getting a striker].” – Sergej Jakirovic
- Akintola had a game-high six shots and missed the lot, underscoring that he’s not a long-term option in attack. One chance was almost an empty net as he rounded the ‘keeper.
- Young Aussie stopper Lucas Herrington (£4.0m) impressed in his first Hull start at centre-half; he’ll have his eye on a Premier League spot in the medium term. Lucas Gourna-Douath (£5.0m) also did well in central midfield. Both players will likely be warming the bench against Coventry, however.
- Left-winger Liam Millar (£5.0m) teed up Kieran Dowell (£4.5m) for Hull’s equaliser at Stoke. Don’t get too excited, £4.5m midfielder fans: there’s scant chance of Dowell making the Premier League grade.
IPSWICH TOWN
- Again, another side making nine changes. Dara O’Shea (£4.0m) and Marcelino Nunez (£5.0m) kept their places. O’Shea moved from right-back to centre-half in this match.
“[Nunez] had recovered well, him and Dara, so they were able to go again, which was good. Some continuity in the team. With all the other changes, I thought it was important.” – Gary O’Neil on starting Dara O’Shea and Marcelino Nunez
- Not too many of the second string took their chances, with League One side Leicester unlucky to lose. They outshot their Premier League hosts 22-15, also leading 1.88-1.37 on xG.
- Keeping his place, Nunez followed up his Gameweek 1 DefCon points by hitting the 12-mark again. Even better, he scored twice, with both attempts from outside the area. One goal came from inside the centre circle!
- Cheap FPL forward Sindre Walle Egeli (£4.5m) lost his place in Gameweek 1 but was given a chance from kick-off here. Struggling in a right-wing role in the first half (no one really impressed in attack), he was much better in the ’10’ after the break. He put Ipswich 1-0 in front from a Jack Clarke (£5.5m) pass before Leicester briefly levelled.
LEEDS UNITED
- A second away win for Leeds at Nottingham Forest in little more than 72 hours. While Saturday’s was a knife-edge contest that could have gone either way, you’d have to say Leeds merited this victory, leading 13-8 on shots and 2.26-0.86 on xG.
- While FPL managers are fawning over Sangare, it’s worth reminding ourselves that there’s a £5.5m midfielder who was already superb for defensive contributions last season. Ethan Ampadu (£5.5m) banked DefCon points in Gameweek 1 and hit the 20-mark here.
- Ampadu was one of five Leeds players who kept their places from the 1-0 win at the City Ground on Saturday. The other four were from a stubborn backline, with James Trafford (£5.0m) once again excelling between the sticks. You wonder how many more clean sheets the Whites will preserve with him in goal in 2026/27.
- Tarik Muharemovic (£5.0m) was again some way off the DefCon threshold on six. He did, however, once again catch the eye from set plays, having gone close to scoring in Gameweek 1 and done so in Leeds’ final pre-season friendly. Here, his header from a set-piece situation caused some six-yard-box pinball, with James Justin (£4.5m) slamming in the loose ball.
- There was one change at centre-half as new signing Nico Elvedi (£4.5m) came in for Jaka Bijol (£5.0m). Elvedi indeed played the Bijol role in the middle of the back three and, as his Slovenian positional rival did in Gameweek 1, hit the DefCon threshold. It was an impressive showing from the Swiss stopper.
“Daniel James was excellent today but Nico was probably the second Player of the Match against such a physical striker like Wood.
“Very happy with his debut. We need good players, we need competition.” – Daniel Farke on Nico Elvedi
- It was all change further forward, with not many of the understudies impressing all that much. Noah Okafor (£6.0m), still building up fitness after World Cup duty with Switzerland, could and should have scored when shooting wide. Daniel James (£5.0m), playing in a sort of wing-back/right-sided 10 hybrid role, was about the best of them, scoring the opener and topping the pile for shots and chances created combined (five).
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
- As for Nottingham Forest, a flat display. At least on Saturday, they could say that they arguably created the better chances. Not so here, although Chris Wood (£6.0m) was denied by a fantastic Joe Rodon (£4.5m) tackle and later a fine Trafford save.
- Wood’s promotion to the starting XI saw Igor Jesus (£6.0m) take on an attacking midfield role. That may be the Brazilian’s best bet of medium-term minutes, indeed, with Liam Delap (£5.5m) set to join.
- In case you missed it, Morgan Gibbs-White (£8.0m) was ruled out of this contest in advance with knee pain.
- Oliver Glasner’s only defensive change saw big-money signing Ousmane Diomande (£5.5m) come in, but he still looks short of match sharpness and he was off at the hour mark here.
- It’s still early days but Forest were booed off, and even Glasner admitted that this display was “not good”. No shots after the 63rd minute, despite Forest conceding by that point, was alarming.
“I think the performance today was not good enough to win this game. We can’t hope that the other teams are playing worse football, it’s just our reponsibility to play better, to be fitter.
“We have a few players coming back from long-term injuries, we have a few players not on their top fitness level. We will work on it. It will take a little bit of time.” – Oliver Glasner
- Ola Aina (£4.5m) was advanced again at right wing-back, almost scoring with a cross-shot and then firing off-target from inside the Leeds box.
