Why is Newcastle United scheduled to play their Carabao Cup match tonight?

Newcastle United will be taking to the field on Tuesday evening, amidst a jam-packed schedule of Champions League and EFL fixtures.

Arsenal are hosting Paris Saint-Germain, while Manchester City are away to Slovan Bratislava and Celtic are visiting Borussia Dortmund as the new-look league phase of the Champions League continues.

Newcastle United qualified for Europe's premier club competition last year, but tonight they are playing the sole Carabao Cup match on the slate of matches. FourFourTwo explains why...

Why are Newcastle United playing tonight?

If it feels like the Carabao Cup third round has been going on for ages, well, it has. Owing to the new Champions League format, this round of the competition was due to be played over two weeks, due to those being in European competition entering the tournament at this stage.

The first ties were played two weeks ago on September 17, with the remainder due to be played last week. However, Newcastle United's trip to AFC Wimbledon had to be postponed after their Cherry Red Records Stadium was hit by floods in the area that caused the River Wandle to burst its banks.

Pictures and footage of the damage caused to the pitch quickly went viral online, as one corner of the playing surface was left resembling a golf course bunker after the grass had risen and torn.

The match was quickly postponed, as was the Dons League Two home clash against Accrington Stanley at the weekend as the club continue to repair the major damage.

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The EFL worked with both clubs to quickly reschedule and relocate the tie, with Newcastle United's St James' Park now hosting the third-round clash. This comes after the Magpies made a £15,000 contribution to the repair work after the club had set up a fundraising page to help offset the financial strain of the significant repair job.

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The rescheduled and relocated match is now kicking off tonight at St James' at 7.45pm.

The draw for the fourth round has already been made, so the two teams will kick-off knowing that a mouthwatering home tie against Chelsea awaits the winner, with the competition's last-16 due to be played during the week commencing October 28.

Wimbledon, who have also had to reschedule another home clash against Crewe Alexandra, are targeting their October 12 clash against Carlisle as their return to action at the Cherry Red Records Stadium.