2026-27 Carabao Cup: First Round – Plymouth vs Exeter

Plymouth Argyle meet Exeter City in the concluding first-round tie of the 2026-27 Carabao Cup. 

Victory will see Plymouth progress to the second round for the seventh time in eight seasons, whilst Exeter are looking to avoid suffering a third straight exit at this stage of the competition in three consecutive seasons.

 

Team News

Plymouth captain, Joe Edwards is set to return to the squad after he sat out pre-season due to knee surgery having been undertaken in the off-season.

Michael Baidoo (hamstring), Tegan Finn (adductor), Jack MacKenzie (knee) and Caleb Watts (ankle) are ruled out.

Exeter have no official injury concerns to report after pre-season, with manager – Matt Taylor expected to have a full squad available for selection.

 

When is Kick-Off?

Plymouth meet Exeter at Home Park on Monday 10 August at 8pm BST, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Football in the UK.

 

Stat Attack

• Plymouth have lost all four previous League Cup ties against Exeter (L4), which all came coincidentally in the first round as recent as the 1985-86 season.
• Exeter have lost just one of their four previous League Cup visits to Plymouth (W1, D2, L1), which came in the first leg of their first-round tie in 1985-86 edition but the Grecians won the second leg 2-0 at home to claim a 3-2 aggregate win.
• Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu has scored in both of Plymouth’s last two League Cup ties (W1, L1), as he netted in a 3-2 first-round win over QPR then equalised in a 1-1 second-round draw at Swansea which they lost on penalties last season.
• Exeter have lost at the first round stage in 39 of the 62 previous editions of the League Cup that they have participated in.

 

Prediction

Having finished last season with just three defeats in 17 matches across all competitions, Plymouth have definitely strengthened this summer which has shown in their unbeaten pre-season, especially after losing their two senior goalkeepers of last season on free transfers.

Exeter meanwhile won just one of their last 20 competitive matches as they were relegated from League One at the conclusion of last season, so this is a total reset this season now and a great tie to try and kick-start their new campaign given their form in this League Cup fixture.

I however do think that Plymouth will prove too much for the Grecians because they’re in a great place form wise but I do expect Exeter to give them a good early test here.

Prediction: Plymouth 2-1 Exeter

Result: Plymouth 2-0 Exeter