League Cup Match Preview: Brighton vs. Liverpool

After falling to two straight defeats in a row, Liverpool€™s next challenge will be to overcome high-flying Championship side Brighton, in the Carling Cup Third Round on Wednesday night. The Reds started the new season brightly but have since faltered on their travels. The fixture at the newly completed Amex Stadium will be Liverpool€™s third away game on the bounce, but after slipping up to Stoke and being thumped 4-0 by Tottenham on Sunday, Kenny Dalglish€™s men will be aiming to travel back to Liverpool with a win under their belt this time. The Merseysider€™s will be without defender Daniel Agger who suffered a broken rib in the game at White Hart Lane, which provides new recruit Sebastian Coates a chance to prove his worth. Martin Skrtel and Charlie Adam will also be unavailable for the encounter as they both picked up red cards in their last game, however, the Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard may give Liverpool that extra bit of spark if he makes that long awaited return from injury. Gerrard has missed the last 17 games Liverpool have played, the longest he has gone without pulling on the famous red shirt. The skipper€™s last appearance came in the 3-1 home win against Manchester United in March, so he will hungry for a starting place and to help his team back to winning ways. Brighton, who sit comfortably in third position in the Championship, after being promoted from League One last season, lost their first game of the season away to Leicester at the weekend. The Seagulls beat both Gillingham and Sunderland 1-0 to get to this stage in the third round and will be hoping to cause further misery to their Premier League opponents. With the absence of Marcos Painter, who was sent off in the game against Leicester, former Tottenham defender and now assistant manager of Albion, Mauricio Taricco, is set to start at left back. Will Hoskins and the former Valencia favourite, Vicente, could also join the 38 year old in the squad. Gus Poyet is likely to field his strongest eleven for the tie and he€™ll be hoping his side can indeed, cause an upset. Having been knocked out of this competition eight times by teams in lower leagues, Liverpool will take a cautious approach ahead of the game at the brand new American Express Community Stadium, where Brighton remain unbeaten in five games. The home team will hope to recreate some of the magic they produced in the 1980€™s, when they achieved wins against Liverpool in three consecutive seasons. Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Liverpool is screened live on Sky Sports (now also available on Virgin Media) tonight, kick-off 7.45pm.