Sunderland will be looking to avoid becoming part of a growing trend when they travel to Hillsborough to face Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup first round on Wednesday.
11 Championship sides were dumped out of the competition on Tuesday evening, nine of which suffered defeats against lower opposition. That takes the grand total of second-tier clubs eliminated in the first round to 12, after Cambridge United defeated Millwall last week.
Among the cup upsets were Reading's 2-1 defeat at home to League Two side Stevenage, Portsmouth's 3-0 win at Cardiff City and Bradford City's 2-1 victory over Hull City.
The first round of this season’s League Cup has heralded a series of shocks and Sunderland will be determined to avoid a cup upset.
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The Black Cats progressed to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup last term courtesy of victories over Port Vale, Blackpool, Wigan Athletic and Queens Park Rangers respectively.
A 5-1 defeat against Premier League opposition in the shape of Arsenal ended their journey. Sunderland will be hoping to inflict further pain on Wednesday after defeating them over two legs in the play-off semi-final en route to securing their return to the Championship.
Sunderland have enjoyed a promising start to their Championship campaign – drawing 1-1 against Coventry City at the Stadium of Light before coming from behind to prevail 3-2 at Bristol City on Saturday.
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