It Would Brighton And Hove You To Win Today (Ok, That's Terrible): Brighton and Hove Albion v. Liverpool Preview And Thread

Funny, when typing the title to this I accidentally wrote "Liverpoop". That wouldn't have been too far off the case on Sunday.

But Sunday's gone, much like Skynyrd told us about Tuesday, and thankfully a new match is at hand. Yes, it's only in the Awful Lager Cup, but anything to wash the taste out of Sunday is welcome. And you can get a confidence booster from anywhere, any win, so today should be no different.

That being the case, I would expect Liverpool to come out with a fairly strong lineup. Some players that have normally found themselves on the bench will get a start, but Dalglish won't be rolling out the toddlers either. The defense comes pretty easy thanks to Skrtel's suspension and Agger's injury -- which should probably be his new last name by now. Anyway, John Flanagan will have to be on the right side of defense, unless Kenny completely loses it and plays Carragher out there with both Coates and Danny Wilson in the middle. But chances are Kenny won't, and even if he had Carra probably would refuse to go out there anyway. So Carra will shepherd the you Uruguayan in the middle, giving us actual negative pace in central defense. But at least there's hope for Coates. On the left, one would think Enrique gets a rest and Jack Robinson comes in, as Fabio Aurelio is probably calling all the King's Men at this point.

In midfield, that's a little harder to read. We'd all love to believe Steven Gerrard is going to start, but I just can't see how he goes from not making the bench to the starting 11. Most likely we'll settle for him in at least a tracksuit warming up on the sidelines. Adam's suspended, so that leaves Spearing and Lucas to tandem behind whatever four go in front and whatever shape. Likely, Craig Bellamy gets a start, and that's probably going wide left. Seeing as how Kuyt didn't play on Sunday, he probably does today, so there's either wide right or up top. Then it's just a case of if Carrol starts, Suarez gets a breather, does Maxi come in, or maybe Shelvey to play behind a lone striker, as well as possibly Jordan Henderson getting another game to actually discover what he does. I'm guessing Shelvey behind Carroll, because with the sales and injuries, we may need to find out what Jonjo can do right now.

As for the opponent, they are flying. Despite a loss to Leicester at the weekend, the newly promoted Championship side is third in the table. They've already dumped Sunderland out of this competition, and have one of the better managing prospects around in Guy Poyet -- as well as one of the uglier. We can expect to get their best shot, and worryingly for a side that hasn't scored in its last two games, Brighton have surrendered five goals all season. Whiskey from a stone....or something.

This has all the makings of an ugly night. A ambitious second-tier side that's playing well and would love nothing more than a big scalp for its mantle on the season (I assume that's where you put your scalps, after a proper cleaning. Don't want to ruin the paint) at home against a sputtering top tier side that's low on confidence and answers. But a win would make us all feel better.

Oh, and I'll call it. Andy Carroll has a big game tonight.