Early hours third-round draw brings more ridicule for EFL Cup

The English Football League have come in for criticism after announcing an unusual draw time for the third round of the EFL Cup.

As part of its link up with Thai energy drinks company and title sponsor Carabao, the EFL will stage the draw in Beijing on Thursday at 11.15am in the Chinese capital.

This amounts to 04.15am BST, with fans facing an early start if they want to learn who the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal will play as it happens.

Previous draws during Carabao's maiden season in association with the competition have not run smoothly.

During the first-round draw in Bangkok, an on-screen graphics error showed Charlton Athletic to have be drawn twice.

After a convoluted round-two draw, the EFL was forced to clarify whether certain teams had been drawn at home or away after clubs including Watford, Norwich City, Charlton and Brentford tweeted their confusion.

Manchester United are the competitions holders after beating Southampton 3-2 in last season's EFL Cup final at Wembley.