Often snuck in during the opening weeks of the Premier League season, it sees the introduction of many of the big boys into the competition but is not renowned for its high-octane drama.
However, over the years, the tournament has provided plenty of excitement, notable shocks, high-scoring thrillers and gripping narratives.
To illustrate why it may be worth staying across this week’s 25 ties, BBC Sport picks out some of the memorable times that the League Cup delivered the goods in its second round.
Five straight wins had followed, with surely a sixth to come against the third tier’s bottom club York City in what was then the Coca-Cola Cup. Nope.
An understrength Red Devils side were beaten 3-0 at Old Trafford in a stunning first leg. Paul Barnes scored twice – the second a penalty that United defender Pat McGibbon was sent off for conceding – and Tony Barras headed a third.
In the second leg at Bootham Crescent, Alex Ferguson brought back the big guns – Peter Schmeichel, Ryan Giggs and Eric Cantona.
and they took a 2-0 lead on the night. But then Scott Jordan bundled in a goal for York – with Barnes close to getting the final touch on that too – and even though Scholes scored for United after that, the minnows saw it out to record a famous 4-3 aggregate win.
United had the last laugh, though, going on to win a Premier League and FA Cup Double without losing another home game all season, while York only narrowly avoided relegation to the fourth tier.
The Minstermen would be at it again in the second round the following season, knocking Premier League Everton out 4-3 over two legs.
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Nearly 20 years later, United would suffer another famous second-round shock in the competition, with Louis van Gaal’s side losing 4-0 at a Will Grigg-inspired MK Dons in 2014.
Sheffield United’s resentment towards West Ham had been bubbling away for seven years prior to their meeting in the League Cup in 2014-15.
The source was the Blades’ relegation from the Premier League in 2007, which came about in part as a result of crucial goals from Carlos Tevez that kept the Hammers up instead.
