Sunderland will play Aston Villa U21s in the group stage of the EFL Trophy.
The Black Cats were included in Northern Section Group A, alongside League One Fleetwood Town and League Two Carlisle United, with that announcement made yesterday.
But each group will also include an invited academy team, and a draw was held today to decide which of those sides would be assigned to which group.
Sunderland's group could have included the academy sides of Aston Villa, Leeds United, Leicester City, Liverpool, Man City, Man United, or Wolverhampton Wanderers.
And the draw, which was conducted by former Shrewsbury Town, Ipswich Town, and Scunthorpe United manager Paul Hurst, and was broadcast live on Talksport 2, saw the Villans placed in Group A.
Newcastle United's academy side was also in the Northern Section of the draw but were excluded from the draw for Group A to avoid them facing Sunderland, with police and the EFL citing 'safety reasons' for the decision.
They could still meet in the later knockout stages, as they did in 2019 when the Black Cats won 4-0 at the Stadium of Light en route to the final at Wembley.
The first EFL Trophy group games are due to be played the week beginning September 7, which is the week leading up to the start of the League One campaign on September 12.
