Liverpool advanced to the quarterfinals in their defense of the English League Cup title with a 3-2 victory over Brighton that was sparked by a Cody Gakpo brace on Wednesday.

The Dutch international scored in the 46th and 63rd minutes at the Amex Stadium, while Luis Díaz added a third in the 85th after Brighton had pulled one goal back thanks to Simon Adingra.

Liverpool held on after Tariq Lamptey scored Brighton’s second goal in the 90th minute.

Liverpool have won the League Cup a record 10 times, most recently last season with a victory over Chelsea in the final.

Five more round of 16 matches were played on Wednesday, including Manchester City visiting Tottenham and Manchester United hosting Leicester two days after sacking manager Erik ten Hag.

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Steve Douglas is in https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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