Brighton vs Liverpool: Reds Must Look Ahead to Carling Cup Round 3 Matchup

There is so much that could be said about the Reds' Sunday match with Tottenham, that perhaps nothing should be said at all. Kenny Dalglish kept his composure during the manager's post match press conference, but it was the most frustrating one he has had during this new campaign.

With a bitter taste left in their mouth and now a selection of players more limited than this past Sunday. This coming Wednesday, Liverpool will travel to Brighton Hove and Albion and their new home: Falmer Stadium, which has been nothing but good for the Seagulls since they took up residency there in July of this year.

Albion have been on fire so far this season, as the League One Champions have taken to life in the Championship with great enthusiasm and only recorded their first defeat in the league against Leicester City in a 0-1 heart-breaker for the club as the Foxes attacked all day long until they finally broke through.

The Reds endured their own heartbreaking defeat on Sunday. Luka Modric scored an excellent goal just moments into the match. Daniel Agger then went down injured which was shortly followed by Charlie Adam's second yellow and subsequent red card before the game had even reached the 30-minute mark.

However, the pain would continue to get worse for the Reds as Martin Skrtel would be sent off at the 63rd-minute mark to see the Reds go two men down. After holding on to what was so far only a 0-1 deficit and making a much better start to the second half there was no way of holding off Spurs once it was ten on eight. Three goals in the last 25 minutes crushed any spirit that was left in Liverpool for the day and was just not theirs.

Wednesday now offers the first chance for the Reds to bounce back. Although, it will be a much different team due to additional injuries and the suspensions of both Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel. Liverpool should still field a team capable of beating the Championship side, but it could be a tough mental game to beat as the frustration from two straight losses in September after a great August that had seen them sitting at third place in the league.

Kenny Dalglish now faces his first hurdle of morale and unexpected set backs with this upcoming match. One thing that could possibly give his club a huge boost would be the return of Steven Gerrard. The team captain was thought to make at least an appearance on the bench for Liverpool against Spurs but he still was not in the lineup.

In the manager's press conference he alluded to little about Gerrard with these comments posted on LiverpoolFC.tv:

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"He's fine. We'll try to get over this before we start worrying about something else. I've said all along, he's done fantastically well to get where he is. We'll just monitor him and pick the right moment for him and us before we get him back.

"Its natural everyone wants to chase for Stevie, especially after you have lost 4-0. But we'll monitor it, take it how it goes and when both parties agree he'll play."

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That said, Wednesday could be a good time for him to make a comeback but he still may not return until the match with Wolverhampton next Saturday.

Dalglish already looked to be preparing for the Carling Cup match when he took both Luis Suarez and Stewart Downing off with 20 minutes left. Both of them will need to be rested and ready for the midweek game, because it will still be needed of them to play against Wolves in another three days' time.

On paper the Reds should still be a lock to win the match on Wednesday and advance to round 4 of the Carling Cup–but unfortunately as we once again were reminded today, anything can happen any given day on a football pitch.

After securing a 3-0 away victory in the second round of the Carling Cup to get to this round, the Reds can head into this game looking back on a successful campaign, so far, in the Cup and will look to be heading through after Wednesday.

Possible Liverpool Starting XI: Pepe Reina; John Flanagan, Jamie Carragher, Danny Wilson, Jack Robinson; Craig Bellamy, Steven Gerrard, Lucas Leiva, Stewart Downing; Dirk Kuyt, Luis Suarez.

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