D. Sturridge has scored a goal for Liverpool! Assist by Alberto Moreno.
Moreno whipped a deep cross into the box which was poorly dealt with by the Maribor defence, allowing it to fall straight to the feet of Sturridge who made no mistakes with the finish.
GOOOAAALLL! IT’S THREE-NIL! Daniel Sturridge grabs a goal late on, he met a deep cross at the far post, took a good touch and then powered the ball into the back of the net from close range. Excellent finish and his first ever Champions League goal in a Liverpool shirt.
There will be a minimum of three minutes of added time played here.
87'
Just a few minutes remain here at Anfield and Liverpool are comfortably seeing the game out, the pace of the game has completely dropped off, they are no longer pressing Maribor back and the visitors are trying to enjoy a bit of possession of the own. The visitors should be pleased with their performance tonight, with their game plan working for 49 minutes and they have defended superbly tonight, to limit the Reds to just two goals, especially Handanovic in goal.
85'
M. Grujić enters the game and replaces Roberto Firmino.
Jurgen Klopp makes his final change of the night, with Roberto Firmino coming off and he has been replaced by Marko Grujić for his fourth Liverpool appearance of the season.
83'
Spartak have managed to pull a goal back against Sevilla, with Ze Luis grabbing the goal for the visitors to make it an interesting final few minutes in Spain.
81'
V. Ahmedi enters the game and replaces D. Hotić.
Maribor make their final change of the evening, Dino Hotič is replaced by Valon Ahmedi.
78'
The pace of the game has well and truly dropped now, perhaps they have the clash against West Ham on Saturday in the back of their minds.
76'
Liverpool continue to press here, but now they have a two-nil lead they need to push hard as the victory and three points appear to be wrapped up.
74'
D. Sturridge enters the game and replaces Mohamed Salah.
Here is the second Liverpool change of the evening, with the opening goalscorer, Salah coming off and he has been replaced by Daniel Sturridge.
72'
We're into the final 20 minutes of the game now and you can start to see a few tired Maribor players, with more space opening up. It's up to Liverpool now if they want to try and fire a few more goals and really put the icing on the cake.
Minute
Description
69'
G. Bajde enters the game and replaces D. Bohar.
Maribor make their second substitution of the evening, with Damjan Bohar heading off the pitch and he has been replaced by Gregor Bajde.
68'
CHANCE MARIBOR! Milec is allowed to drift past a couple of Liverpool defenders are find his way into the Liverpool penalty area, he gets to the byline and chips the ball to Bohar at the far post. His first touch is initially poor and instead of shooting, he plays a ball back to a teammate on the edge of the area, but his pass is poor and Liverpool clear.
66'
Liverpool have a two-goal cushion now for Liverpool and perhaps that will open Maribor up a little more in an attempt to get something from this game. I'd expect more goals from this game!
64'
E. Can has scored a goal for Liverpool! Assist by J. Milner.
Milner the architect with the eye to play a sharp one-two between himself and Can, with the latter placing it well into the bottom corner and giving Handanovic no chance.
GOOOAAALLL! LIVERPOOL DOUBLE THEIR LEAD! Maribor are finally broken once again, with Emre Can putting the finishing touch on a superb Liverpool attacking move. A quick one-two with Milner on the edge of the box, with Can making a run behind the Maribor defence and he then coolly side-foots his shot straight into the back of the net. Excellent finish.
63'
Elsewhere in Group E, Sevilla have now taken a 2-0 lead over Spartak Moscow, with Ever Banega scoring and Spartak have a mountain to climb. As it stands, Liverpool are one point clear of Sevilla at the top.
61'
Liverpool with a free-kick 30 yards out and it's Alexander-Arnold who steps up to take it and it's a decent effort from the right-back but it doesn't dip enough and flies over the bar, not troubling Handanovic.
59'
Marcos Tavares enters the game and replaces J. Mešanović.
Maribor make their first change of the evening, with Jasmin Mešanović coming off and he has been replaced by Marcos Tavares.
57'
CHANCE MARIBOR! The visitors have their first real opportunity of the game and it seems to catch Liverpool completely by surprise. The break down the left and a low cross comes into the box and Klavan is forced to defend well at his near post, with a Maribor striker lurking just behind him ready for a close-range effort. The resulting corner is met by Billong at the near post but he puts his effort well wide.
55'
Another good save! Handanovic with another stop to deny Liverpool! This time the Maribor skipper is forced to rush out of his goal and block the close-range shot by Firmino. What a performance by the 39-year-old keeper.
53'
Penalty saved by J. Handanovič!
WHAT A SAVE! Handanovič pulls off a wonderful save to deny Milner from the penalty spot. It looked to be heading into the bottom corner, but the keeper got down quickly and got a big hand to the ball and tipped it onto the post.
Milner who takes the penalty duties back from Salah this evening, but he is denied by a fantastic save by the Maribor keeper. Liverpool have now missed all four penalties at Anfield this year, while Milner has now missed his last two.
52'
A. Rajčevič gets yellow.
Aleksander Rajčevič is shown a yellow card for his foul on Firmino in the penalty area.
PENALTY LIVERPOOL! Firmino is bundled to the ground by Rajčevič after a superb run and dribble the forward, he tricked his way past Rajčevič and then the Maribor defender tugged him back to stop an immediate chance to score. The referee shows no hesitation in awarding a penalty.
51'
You can sense the relief has been lifted now, the atmosphere has changed and now Liverpool have the lead, will Maribor be forced to come out and try and pull one back, which may lead to more space in behind and chances for the Reds.
49'
Mohamed Salah has scored a goal for Liverpool! Assist by T. Alexander-Arnold.
GOOOAAALLL! LIVERPOOL LEAD! They finally manage to breach the Maribor defence and it has come just three minutes into the second half. Matic does well to run the ball out of defence, he sprays it out to Alexander-Arnold on the right, who whips an inviting low ball into the box which is superbly met by Salah. The forward just had to get the slightest out touches on the ball to guide it into the back of the net and give the keeper no chance.
It was an excellent cross into the penalty area by Alexander-Arnold and Salah timed his run to perfection to fire Liverpool into the lead here.
48'
Liverpool continue the second half, just as they finished the opening 45 minutes. The Reds are dominating possession, with Maribor camped inside their own half and inviting Liverpool onto them. Can the Premier League side find a breakthrough?
46'
The second half is underway!
45' +1
That's the half-time whistle!
45'
There will be a minimum of one minute of added time played.
42'
As the game goes on you'd expect the Maribor players to tire and more space to appear in defence, but Liverpool will need to pass the ball around the pitch quicker regardless, as it is pretty comfortable for the visitors at the moment. Salah was given a tad too much time and space on the edge of the area, he tries a first-time curling shot, but he gets it all wrong and it goes high and wide over the crossbar.
39'
Not long to go until half-time now. Liverpool are camped inside the visitors half, with every Maribor player behind the ball to limit the space for the Reds to play into. Salah and Firmino have both had a couple of good chances but they are being marked out of the game at the moment, terrific from a Maribor point of view.
37'
This game is now the only match in the Champions League tonight without a goal! Liverpool have been dominant here and they will surely break the deadlock soon, a goal is certainly coming.
36'
STAT: Liverpool come into this match enjoying an 11-game unbeaten run in the group stages, winning three and drawing eight, in the Champions League and Europa League.
34'
Liverpool are getting closer and closer, the visitors need to remain strong at the back if they are to make it to half-time without conceding. The chances are coming thick and fast.
32'
In the other game in Group E, Sevilla have just taken the lead over Spartak Moscow with Clément Lenglet opening the scoring for the Spanish side.
30'
GREAT SAVE! Jasmin Handanović with a brilliant save to deny Firmino, tipping the ball onto the crossbar and away from danger. A low cross came into the box by Oxlade-Chamberlain and was met by Firmino, it also seems to take a deflection off a Maribor defender. The effort appears to be flying into the top left-hand corner of the net, but the veteran goalkeeper moved his feet well and made a superb save. Best chance of the game.
27'
Liverpool with a free-kick in a good position, Salah whips it into the box but it's not the best set piece and it rebounds off a couple of players, before it falls to Oxlade-Chamberlain on the edge of the box, but he scuffs his shot and Maribor eventually clear the danger.
26'
The traveling Maribor supporters are certainly making their voices heard tonight, they have travelled in numbers and they will be more than pleased with the performance for their side at the moment.
24'
We're just past the halfway stage in the opening half here, and the Reds are yet to register a shot on target. Despite dominating possession, they haven't managed to make it count on the scoreboard.
22'
D. Bohar gets yellow.
Damjan Bohar is shown the first yellow card of the evening for a shirt pull on Milner, giving the Reds a free-kick in a decent position to whip it into the box. However the set piece is defended well by Maribor.
21'
CHANCE LIVERPOOL! Oxland-Chamberlain does very well to sprint into the box after a mistake from Damjan Bohar, Firmino then plays a square ball to the winger who gets there ahead of Billong, but the Maribor defender does just enough to make a great tackle and the ball goes out for a corner.
19'
Trent Alexander-Arnold is getting a lot of joy down the right-wing at the moment, if Liverpool can start moving the ball quicker it should allow the pace of the right-back to beat his marker. Just the final ball and clincial touch missing.
17'
J. Henderson enters the game and replaces G. Wijnaldum.
Here is the early substitution, Wijnaldum limps off and he is replaced by Jordan Henderson, who is given the captains armband straight away by Milner.
16'
It looks like Georginio Wijnaldum is in some pain at the moment with an ankle injury, he is down receiving medical treatment and he may be about to be replaced early on.
14'
It's still at Liverpool here at Anfield, the Reds need to start spraying the ball around the pitch faster as their play is far too slow at the moment and it is playing straight into the hands of Maribor, who will be more than happy with the scoreline at present.
12'
Maribor have won only one of their nine games against England opposition in all competitions, drawing two and losing four, a 2-1 win against Wigan Athletic in the 2013/14 Europa League group stages. They have also never kept a clean sheet in those nine games.
9'
Chance Liverpool! James Milner almost carves open the first chance of the game for Liverpool.The ball finds Milner at the byline inside the area, and he tries to pick out Alex Oxland-Chamberlain in the middle, but Jean-Claude Billong pulls off a brilliant interception to steal the ball off Oxlade-Chamberlain, just as he was about to strike at goal.
8'
This could be a very long night ahead for Maribor. The visitors have barely touched the ball so far and when they do. they are struggling to string more than two or three passes together and because they are sat so deep in their own half, with every man behind the ball, they have no target or outlet to ease the pressure on themselves.
6'
STAT: Maribor are currently enduring a 14-game winless run in the Champions League, with five draws and nine defeats, and they have only managed to score one goal across their last four outings in the competition.
4'
Liverpool are playing good quick football here which will eventually lead to openings in this Maribor formation, as their press becomes weaker and the quality of the Premier League side will be expected to show. Will we see another seven goals against their opponents tonight?
2'
Maribor are immediately dropping into their own half and they have every player inside their own half and behind the ball, trying to press Liverpool as best they can and prevent the Reds from finding any space in the final third.
1'
We're underway!
Good evening and welcome to our LIVE match commentary of the Group E Champions League clash between Liverpool and Maribor at Anfield tonight.
Liverpool are looking for another big win as they seek to keep their Champions League hopes on track against Maribor. The Reds opening Champions League match at Anfield did not quite go to plan as they drew 2-2 with Sevilla back in September.
Dejan Lovren is expected to miss out after pulling out of Liverpool's 3-0 win against Huddersfield during the warm-up Philippe Coutinho is also a doubt with a hip problem and both players are not expected to be risked. Whilst, Sadio Mane, Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne remain sidelined.
However, Jurgen Klopp's side thrashed Maribor in Slovenia, with a 7-0 victory leaving the Premier League club level on points with Group E leaders Spartak Moscow after three games.
With Spartak and Sevilla facing each other tonight, Liverpool know another strong win will likely send them top of the group ahead of their final two Champions League group games. After recovering from the 4-1 defeat to Tottenham to beat Huddersfield 3-0 on Saturday, Klopp is expected to rotate his squad tonight.
TEAM NEWS: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is handed a start ahead of Daniel Sturridge in an attacking Reds side. Loris Karius comes in for Simon Mignolet between the sticks, while Trent Alexander-Arnold starts at right-back with Joe Gomez dropping to the bench. In midfield, Emre Can take the place of Jordan Henderson.
Head-to-head: The two sides' only meeting came on match three of this year's competition, with Liverpool winning 7-0 in Slovenia.
The teams are out here at Anfield and we are just minutes away from kick-off! Stay tuned for all of the match action.
HALF-TIME: LIVERPOOL 0-0 MARIBOR
It is goalless here at Anfield, the only game of the Champions League tonight to not see a goal yet this evening. Liverpool have dominated and Maribor have defended well in their own half, keeping every man behind the ball and not allowing the Reds any space in behind which is frustrating this home crowd and side.
FULL-TIME: LIVERPOOL 3-0 MARIBOR
Liverpool run out comfortable three-nil winners over Maribor at Anfield, after goals from Salah, Can and Sturidge all in the second half after a resilient performance by the visitors. Handanovic pulling off many superb saves to deny the Reds, including a fantastic penalty save to prevent Milner from scoring from the spot. Liverpool now lead Group E, next up in the Champions League is a trip to Sevilla.
That's all from us tonight folks, we hope you enjoyed the game!
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