Newcastle drawn away yet again in Carabao Cup third round but avoid PL opposition

Newcastle United's streak of being drawn as the away side in the Carabao Cup continues for the fourth draw in a row however this one has been much kinder than the previous ones.

As seems to be the case quite often, Newcastle were one of the last balls pulled out of the bowl for the cup draw, but for the first time since the Magpies faced Tranmere on the way to the Carabao Cup final in 2023, Eddie Howe's men avoid Premier League opposition.

In fact, the Magpies have been handed what should be, on paper at least, an easy draw as they face League Two AFC Wimbledon.

That being said, Wimbledon got past Premier League opposition to book their spot in the third-round draw.

Wimbledon have already claimed one Premier League scalp

Premier League new boys Ipswich Town were Wimbledon's victims tonight, although like Newcastle, Wimbledon needed penalties to get the job done.

The bizarre third-round draw which saw a pre-draw take place before kick-off tonight had Michael Dawson and Les Ferdinand drawing from two bowls at the start of the draw to ensure that teams partaking in European competition did not face each other - and we thought last year's draws were rigged.

Another twist in the tale is that the third-round games will take place over two separate weeks, again with the European competition rule changes used as the excuse.

Newcastle did well to avoid the protected six

It was a relief when the first bowl was emptied without Newcastle's number coming out, but there were still plenty of Premier League sides in the draw.

We've broken one curse in drawing a League Two team, so hopefully, provided we don't mess things up against Wimbledon, we might break the other curse and actually get a draw to be played at St James' Park in the next round.

Mind, if our performances don't pick up before then, I wouldn't be overly confident on us getting past Wimbledon. Remember Cambridge away?