Carling Cup first round preview

Road to Wembley starts live on Tuesday on Sky Sports 2

By James Pearson   Last updated: 12th August 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Carling Cup first round preview

Road to Wembley starts here

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The road to Wembley starts on Tuesday as the first round of the Carling Cup gets underway and you can watch Chester's clash with Leeds and keep up-to-date with all the scores via Sky Sports 2 or online via our exclusive scorecentre.

Tottenham claimed the Carling Cup last season following an extra-time success over Chelsea and with the reward of European football for the victors the competition can not be underestimated.

Championship promotion hopefuls QPR will be confident of seeing off Swindon while Wolves and Cardiff City take on Accrington and Bournemouth respectively.

Bristol City are unlikely to have it all their own way as they entertain Peterborough while Burnley will be looking to bounce back from their weekend thrashing against Sheffield Wednesday versus Bury.

Crystal Palace and Charlton both have home games against Hereford and Yeovil respectively. There is sure to be large crowd on offer as Southampton take on Exeter at St James Park.

Leeds' trip to Chester can be seen live and exclusive on Sky Sports 2. There are two Yorkshire derbies on Tuesday as Huddersfield entertain Bradford while Rotherham cross the M1 to do battle with Sheffield Wednesday.

Derby will be desperate for a victory against Lincoln City at Pride Park after their surprise 1-0 home defeat to Doncaster on Saturday while League One promotion hopefuls Leicester City will fancy their chances against newly-promoted Stockport.

Reading will be confident of success with a trip to League Two outfit Dagenham & Redbridge. Norwich may find it tough to eradicate their weekend defeat to Coventry when they tackle MK Dons.

Ipswich will start favourites against Leyton Orient while there is an East Lancashire derby at Spotland as Rochdale entertain near neighbours Oldham Athletic. Luton will be hoping to upset Plymouth in search of a much-needed cash injection.

Macclesfield will be hoping to surprise Blackpool, Millwall welcome Northampton to the Den, Notts County entertain Doncaster while Preston will be the favourites to see off Chesterfield.

Shrewsbury will have their work cut out at home to Carlisle, Cheltenham visit Southend, Swansea entertain Brentford, Darlington head down south to face Walsall while Watford welcome Bristol Rovers to Vicarage Road.

In the evening's other games, Brighton face Barnet, Crewe entertain Barnsley, Colchester travel to Gillingham, Grimsby take on Tranmere while Hartlepool do battle with Scunthorpe.

Click below for individual match previews

Bournemouth v Cardiff City

Brighton v Barnet

Bristol City v Peterborough

Bury v Burnley

Crystal Palace v Hereford

Charlton v Yeovil

Chester v Leeds Utd

Crewe v Barnsley

Dag & Red v Reading

Derby v Lincoln City

Exeter City v Southampton

Gillingham v Colchester

Grimsby v Tranmere

Hartlepool v Scunthorpe

Huddersfield v Bradford

Ipswich v Leyton Orient

Leicester v Stockport

Luton Town v Plymouth

MK Dons v Norwich

Macclesfield v Blackpool

Millwall v Northampton

Notts County v Doncaster

Preston NE v Chesterfield

Rochdale v Oldham

Sheff Wed v Rotherham

Shrewsbury v Carlisle Utd

Southend v Cheltenham

Swansea City v Brentford

Swindon v QPR

Walsall v Darlington

Watford v Bristol Rovers

Wolves v Accrington