2026-27 Carabao Cup: Preliminary Round – Tranmere vs Rochdale

Tranmere Rovers meet Rochdale in the first preliminary round tie in the 2026-27 Carabao Cup. 

Victory would see Tranmere or Rochdale visit Bradford City at Valley Parade on Saturday 8 August at 3pm BST in the first round of the competition.

 

Team News

Tranmere have no fresh injury concerns to report after a 3-1 loss to Altrincham in their final pre-season friendly.

Connor Jennings remains sidelined with a long-term knee injury.

Rochdale will likely be without Will Jenkins after he suffered a knee injury during their 3-2 pre-season friendly defeat at FC Halifax Town.

Luke Hannant will be available despite having been sent off in that game because red cards in friendlies do not typically roll over into competitive suspensions.

 

When is Kick-Off?

Tranmere host Rochdale at Prenton Park on Saturday 1 August at 3pm BST, live on Sky Sports+ in the UK.

 

Stat Attack

• Tranmere have won one of their two previous League Cup ties against Rochdale (W1, L1).
• Rochdale lost 1-0 in their only previous League Cup visit to Tranmere in August 1987 – which came in the second leg of the first-round tie that season which they ultimately won 3-2 on aggregate after a 3-1 home win in the first leg.
• Neither Tranmere or Rochdale have participated in a preliminary-round tie in this competition before
• Tranmere have kept clean sheets in three of their four pre-season friendlies ahead of this competitive tie (W3, L1), having only failed to do so in a 3-1 loss to Altrincham.
• Rochdale failed to win any of their pre-season friendlies (D2, L2).

 

Prediction

With this preliminary tie coming off the back of pre-season, it’s difficult to predict exactly how this will play out competitively but Tranmere can come into this match with some confidence after a solid pre-season with three clean sheets.

That confidence is further solidified by the fact that manager – Darrell Clarke clearly prioritised this game with his weak selection against Altrincham, so I expect a strong performance from them here.

Rochdale meanwhile failed to keep any clean sheets nor get a win in pre-season but there is no doubting their attacking quality, which won’t be enough to win this tie realistically given how solid Tranmere are at the back with an equally strong attack.

I however do expect goals at both ends of the pitch but Tranmere should be too strong realistically, and especially more so if Tom Ince features and can have an immediate impact.

Prediction: Tranmere 2-1 Rochdale