Manchester United's second-round tie saw them drawn against Fourth Division Halifax Town; they won the first leg at The Shay 3–1, with goals from Clayton Blackmore, Brian McClair and Neil Webb, before Viv Anderson and Steve Bruce gave them a 2–1 win at Old Trafford and a 5–2 aggregate victory.
They were then drawn against rivals and reigning First Division champions Liverpool in the third round, where Mark Hughes and Lee Sharpe joined Bruce on the score sheet in a 3–1 home win.
There they met fellow Second Division side Swindon Town, who held them to a goalless draw at Hillsborough, before succumbing to a 1–0 defeat at the County Ground in the replay a week later.
Wednesday required another replay in the fourth round, after they played out another draw at home to Derby County, but beat them 2–1 at the Baseball Ground two weeks later.
Man of the Match Nigel Pearson (Sheffield Wednesday)[7] Linesmen Reserve official The broadcast of this League Cup final caused controversy in Yorkshire, where instead of showing the post-match celebrations (as London Weekend Television did), Yorkshire Television decided to cut the broadcast short to show a programme titled War of the Monster Trucks.