The 2021–22 Premier League Cup was the eighth edition of the competition. The defending champions, Everton, who won the 2018–19 competition, were eliminated in the group stage. The previous two editions of the competition were cancelled, or not completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
Participants 36 teams participated in the competition this year, 4 fewer than in 2019–2020. Cambridge United, Crystal Palace, Fleetwood Town, Scunthorpe United, Shrewsbury Town, and Yeovil Town did not after participating in last year's competition after one season, meanwhile Aston Villa, Bristol Rovers, Liverpool, Newport County, and Portsmouth did not return after 3, 3, 5, 2, and 4 straight seasons in the competition respectively. Finally, Hull City did not return after 7 straight seasons in the competition.
5 teams returned to the competition this season. Arsenal returned for the first time since the inaugural competition in 2013–2014, Queens Park Rangers returned for the first time since 2015–2016, West Ham United for the first time since 2016–2017, and Norwich City and Peterborough United returned after missing 2019–2020's competition. 3 teams, Mansfield Town, Salford City, and Stevenage participated for the very first time in the competition this season.
Category 1 Arsenal Blackburn Rovers Birmingham City Burnley Derby County Everton Fulham Leeds United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Norwich City Nottingham Forest Reading Southampton Stoke City Sunderland West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers
Category 2 Charlton Athletic Colchester United Peterborough United Queens Park Rangers Sheffield United Swansea City Watford Wigan Athletic
Category 3 AFC Bournemouth Exeter City Mansfield Town Oxford United Plymouth Argyle Southend United Stevenage
Category 4 Huddersfield Town Salford City
Qualifying round A qualifying round was required to finalise the 32 teams that would enter the Group Stage.
Group stage The draw for the group stage took place on 25 August 2021. Teams play each other twice, with the group winners and runners–up advance to the round of 16.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Knockout stages
Round of 16 The draw for the round of 16 took place on 1 March 2022.
Quarter–final The quarter-final draw was confirmed on 21 March 2022.
Semi–final The semi-final draw was announced on 26 April 2022.
Final The final details were announced on 6 May 2022, with West Bromwich Albion being picked as the home team.
|colspan=4|Substitutes:
|colspan=4|Coach: Deon Burton
|colspan=4|Substitutes:
|colspan=4|Coach: Jamie Collins
See also 2021–22 Professional U23 Development League 2021–22 FA Youth Cup
References