Tuesday marks the return of the EFL Cup, with first round fixtures being played between Tuesday and Thursday evening when West Brom host Sheffield United. Some fixtures stand out as ripe for an upset...

Mansfield Town vs Derby County

The Stags and The Rams lock horns on Tuesday evening, and several intriguing elements mean this game will come with some added spice compared to the usual first-round cup fixture.

Geographically the two teams are separated by just 25 miles, and current Mansfield manager Nigel Clough led Derby to a period of sustained Championship success between 2009 and 2013 - Clough himself expressed some surprise at the game not being televised, and it's easy to see why.

With Derby travelling to Field Mill and with a squad still gelling after a complete rebuild and manager change in the summer, this fixture does seem to be something of a banana skin for them. Mansfield are coming off a win against Tranmere whereas Derby are aiming to bounce back from a narrow defeat to Charlton, but the form of both teams could well continue mid-week with a win for the home side.

Oxford United vs Swansea City

Swansea travel to the Kassam Stadium on Tuesday night aiming to put right a disappointing start to the season which has led to some viral tweets from the Jacks fanbase regarding what's perceived as an overly passive approach to games from manager Russell Martin.

Oxford United, on the other hand, have long been known as the great entertainers of League One and have boosted their squad with the arrivals of Josh Murphy and Yanic Wildschut who have commanded a combined £18m in transfer fees in recent years from Cardiff and Middlesbrough respectively.

Cameron Brannagan also recently gave the U's a real boost two weeks ago, signing a new deal with Oxford at the last moment after being all set to join Championship outfit Blackpool. Swansea seem demoralised following a heavy defeat to Blackburn Rovers at the weekend, whereas Oxford come into this fixture off the back of a big win against Cambridge United.

All the warning signs are there for a potential surprise win for the League 1 outfit this week.

Middlesbrough vs Barnsley

Despite defeating Marseille in pre-season, Middlesbrough find themselves winless two games into the Sky Bet Championship campaign.

Boro have struggled in the EFL Cup in recent years and appear to show a clear preference towards the league - they've failed to get past round 2 in each of the past three seasons, and indeed lost 2-0 at home to The Tykes in this competition in 2020. Barnsley, to their credit, are fresh off a win against Cheltenham at the weekend and, with a strong and deep squad, can afford to attempt to be competitive in domestic competitions this season.

You could envision Barnsley turning up to the Riverside more motivated and engaged than their hosts and sneaking a shock away win, but it would of course be a real upset nevertheless.