Spurs will play Brighton and Hove Albion at home in League Cup fourth round

Tottenham Hotspur will play Brighton and Hove Albion at home in the fourth round of the Capital One Cup. The draw came minutes after Spurs beat Nottingham Forest, 3-1, in the third round and Brighton beat Burton, 3-0.

The fourth round of the tournament will be played on October 28 and 29 so Spurs will play on one of those dates. Odds are that it will be on the 29th because Tottenham play on Sunday the weekend before.

Brighton are off to an uneven start this season under Sami Hyypia. They have done well in the League Cup, advancing to this point, but they are just 18th in the Championship, with eight points from eight matches. All in all, Spurs can't complain about a draw that pit them against an average Championship side at home.

The League Cup match will be sandwiched between Sunday Premier League matches against Newcastle and Aston Villa. That doesn't seem too bad, and it's not, but the Europa League will make that a tough stretch. There will be Europa matches the weeks before and after the Capital One Cup match, so Spurs will play seven matches in 23 days from October 18 to November 9.

If Spurs can beat Brighton, they will be three rounds -- and four matches, because of the two-legged semifinal -- from a trophy.