Ten Premier League clubs join EFL Trophy competition

Ten Premier League clubs have joined the EFL Trophy competition, while Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool are among the top-flight teams to opt out.

The revamped competition for the 2016-17 season offered Category One academies the chance to take on League One and League Two opposition.

Premier League champions Leicester City, Chelsea, West Ham United, Everton, Southampton, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Swansea City, Middlesbrough and Sunderland have all put forward teams for the league.

Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United are among the six top-flight clubs to decline the invitation, meaning that their spots have been handed to Championship outfits Derby County, Norwich City, Reading, Blackburn Rovers, Brighton & Hove Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Sixteen groups of four teams, which will now include an academy team, will compete, with the top two from each qualifying for the first knockout round.

EFL Trophy group draw:

Northern Group A: Everton, Bolton, Cheltenham, Blackpool Northern Group B: Wolves, Chesterfield, Crewe, Accrington Northern Group C: Stoke, Bradford, Morecambe, Bury Northern Group D: Blackburn, Fleetwood, Carlisle, Oldham Northern Group E: Derby, Port Vale, Doncaster, Mansfield Northern Group F: Sunderland, Rochdale, Hartlepool, Notts County Northern Group G: Middlesbrough, Scunthorpe, Cambridge, Shrewsbury Northern Group H: Leicester, Sheffield United, Grimsby, Walsall Southern Group A: Reading, Bristol Rovers, Portsmouth, Yeovil Southern Group B: Swansea, AFC Wimbledon, Newport, Plymouth Southern Group C: Chelsea, Swindon, Exeter, Oxford Southern Group D: West Ham, Coventry, Wycombe, Northampton Southern Group E: Southampton, Charlton, Colchester, Crawley Southern Group F: Norwich, Peterborough, Barnet, MK Dons Southern Group G: Brighton, Southend, Stevenage, Leyton Orient Southern Group H: West Bromwich Albion, Millwall, Luton, Gillingham