Sunderland, who were EFL Cup finalists in 2014, travel to Blackpool in the second round of this season's competition on Tuesday evening.
The Black Cats have dropped from the Premier League to League One since their Wembley date seven years ago, while the Tangerines are currently adjusting to life back in the Championship.
Match preview
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This is Sunderland's fourth successive season in the third tier, following defeat in the playoffs in two of the previous three years.
Lee Johnson is the third manager to try to get the Black Cats promoted, following the failures of Jack Ross and Phil Parkinson, and they have started the campaign strongly with three wins from their opening four games.
A 1-0 victory over AFC Wimbledon on Saturday, courtesy of Carl Winchester's second-half strike, was their first clean sheet of the season and lifted them to fifth in the League One table at this early stage; they face second-place Wycombe Wanderers next weekend.
Sunderland have made it through to round three of the EFL Cup in seven of the last nine years, and beat Port Vale 2-1 in the first round a fortnight ago.
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This is Blackpool's first appearance in the second round since 2018, and they progressed from round one in emphatic style, comfortably beating Middlesbrough 3-0 with goals from Callum Connolly, Shayne Lavery and Keshi Anderson.
That stands as their only victory so far this campaign, as they have made a winless start to life in Championship after winning the League One playoffs in May.
Neil Critchley's side have two draws and two defeats to their name in the league, placing them just inside the relegation zone.
On Saturday, Blackpool came from two goals down to draw 2-2 away at Bournemouth, with James Husband and Jerry Yates scoring within the space of four second-half minutes to earn a good point.
Critchley praised his side for "never know[ing] when they're beaten", and he will hope that progress in the cup might inspire them to pick up their first league win at the weekend away at Millwall.
The Tangerines won 1-0 in both fixtures against Sunderland in League One last season.
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Team News
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Blackpool are likely to start a mix of first choice and fringe players, much like they did in round one against Sunderland.
Daniel Grimshaw should come in between the sticks, and there may be opportunities again for youngsters Oliver Casey and Sonny Carey.
Daniel Gretarsson and Kevin Stewart are close to fitness after injury, so Neil Critchley might see this game as the chance to give them minutes.
Sunderland are likely to still be without captain Corry Evans, who has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury but should return against Wycombe at the weekend.
Loan signing Nathan Broadhead made his debut off the bench against Wimbledon on Saturday and could get the nod from the start at Bloomfield Road.
Blackpool possible starting lineup:
Grimshaw; Connolly, Keogh, Casey, Husband; Bowler, James, Stewart, Hamilton; Carey, Lavery
Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; Winchester, Flanagan, Wright, Cirkin; Neil, O'Nien; Diamond, Pritchard, Hawkes; Broadhead
We say: Blackpool 2-2 Sunderland
These two sides only finished three points apart in League One last season and this should be an as evenly-matched game as that suggests. Sunderland will be in a more confident mood, but Blackpool's comeback against Bournemouth should give them a boos; we think it will go to penalties, where Sunderland will prevail.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Sunderland win with a probability of 47.58%. A win for Blackpool had a probability of 27.48% and a draw had a probability of 24.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sunderland win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.33%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.39%) and 0-2 (8.2%). The likeliest Blackpool win was 1-0 (7.46%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.82%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 2.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sunderland would win this match.
