Brentford EFL Cup tournament progression

Brentford has progressed through the early stages of the EFL Cup, also known as the Carabao Cup.

In their first recorded match, Brentford defeated Birmingham City 6-1 at St Andrew's. Following an early goal by Callum Wilson and an equalizer from Birmingham's Demarai Gray, Brentford secured the win with goals from Aaron Hickey, Nathan Collins, Mikkel Damsgaard, and Igor Thiago.

Brentford subsequently advanced to the fourth round after a 2-1 victory against Reading at the Select Car Leasing Stadium. Callum Wilson opened the scoring three minutes into the match, and Fabio Carvalho doubled the lead in first-half stoppage time, with both goals assisted by Dango Ouattara. Carvalho’s goal marked his first since recovering from a serious ACL injury sustained in November 2025.

Reading attempted a comeback in the second half through a goal by Paudie O’Connor in the 72nd minute. However, the match involved officiating controversy when O’Connor’s earlier bicycle kick was disallowed for a high boot. Following the win, head coach Keith Andrews stated the club intends to ‘attack it as hard as we can’ regarding the competition, while also criticizing how modern officiating trends have moved away from allowing officials to manage the game naturally.