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liverpool exit the carling cup after being defeated by cup holders tottenham on wednesday. the reds came into the match having already lost to spurs in the premier league, the loss was their first of the season in all competitions. tottenham scored 3 first half goals, but liverpool scored twice to put themselves back in the game. liverpool’s goals came on either side of the break with reserve player damien plessis heading in the first and sami hyypia heading in the second after half time. however the spurs’ fourth goal put the game out of liverpool’s reach.

the reds will not be too disappointed about the loss. with the exception of torres and agger, the entire liverpool side was made up of reserve and bench players. tottenham, still trying to claw their way out of a terrible start to the season, played a strong team.

having exited the carling cup, liverpool can now focus on maintaining their strong start in the league. liverpool travel to bolton this weekend and are at home to fulham next weekend. both games are ‘must win’ matches for the reds.

liverpool have defeated crewe alexandra in last night’s carling cup draw. the reds opened the scoring through daniel agger, returning from an injury. agger thumped a free kick into the back of crewe’s net. crewe got themselves back in the game with a good goal past liverpool’s keeper diego cavalier. however lucas leiva grabbed the winner for liverpool after a good run and a fantastic jermaine pennant cross. torres came close with a few good chances, and liverpool also survived a late scare when a sliding shot barely missed its mark.

liverpool progress to the next round and await their draw. the reds now look to saturday’s derby against rivals everton.

liverpool fell 0-2 to chelsea as they crashed out of the carling cup. both teams fielded weak sides and both squads had a lot of chances. in a physical encounter, chelsea had the upper hand with a goal, followed by crouch being sent off for a lunging tackle. shevachenko scored chelsea’s second to seal the match.

i’m sure benitez isn’t too concerned about the cup loss, however it’s liverpool’s second straight defeat after losing to manchester united on sunday. however, liverpool now have the chance to bounce back into form with some games against portsmouth and derby over christmas.

liverpool have progressed to the next round of the carling cup, at the expense of championship team cardiff city. the welsh team, and former reds striker robbie fowler, were given a rousing welcome at anfield. the reds fielded a weaker team, giving starts to a number of reserve players. most notably was the return of harry kewell, recovering from yet another injury. new keeper charles itandje started for liverpool, as did defender jack hobbs, midfielders sebastian leto and lucas leiva and forward nabil el zhar.

both teams played well and despite chances, the first half ended without a goal. however, minutes after the second half whistle liverpool opened the scoring. a gerrard pass opened up el zhar who put away a neat shot into the back of the net. 10 minutes later cardiff equalised, but gerrard was put into space moments later and smashed the ball past the cardiff keeper to seal the result.

fowler, in front of his anfield fans, had chances to score but was denied by some great keeping from itandje.

liverpool progress to the quarter finals and are awaiting the draw to discover their next opponent. the reds next game is against form blackburn rovers in this saturday’s premiership fixture.