Good evening and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the Champions League Group E clash between Liverpool and Maribor at Anfield.
The hosts come into this match leading the way in Group E, although only one point separates the top three teams and it is still all to play for at the halfway stage.
Maribor prop up the group having only picked up one point from the nine on offer so far, with their most recent Champions League outing seeing them thrashed 7-0 by today's opponents just a fortnight ago.
Make sure you don't miss a moment of the action courtesy of our minute-by-minute updates below.
There were no shortage of surprise results in the Champions League last night, but Maribor are looking to pull off the biggest upset of the lot this evening as they take on a team who beat them 7-0 on their own turf just a fortnight ago. It is still all to play for in the congested Group E, so this is a huge match for Liverpool in particular as they bid to reach the knockout stages on their return to the competition.
Before we take a closer look, though, let's first check out the team news...
Well, the headline news as far as Liverpool are concerned is that Philippe Coutinho once again missed out having also been forced to miss the weekend win over Huddersfield through injury.
The Brazilian, who did not train last night due to the problem, has scored in his last two Champions League appearances for Liverpool having failed to find the back of the net in his first 15, but he will play no part this evening having failed to recover in time for the game.
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Indeed, it is a lengthy injury list for the Reds which also includes key players such as Nathaniel Clyne and Adam Lallana, while Dejan Lovren also misses out tonight. The Croatian, whose performances have been heavily scrutinised in recent weeks, picked up a groin injury during the build-up to the weekend win over Huddersfield and has not recovered in time to feature tonight as Ragnar Klavan continues to deputise.
There is one change to the back four from the weekend as Trent Alexander-Arnold - who scored the seventh and final goal of the reverse fixture a fortnight ago - replaces Gomez, while there is also a change between the sticks as Loris Karius replaces Mignolet, as he has for all of the Champions League matches so far.
Wijnaldum was on the scoresheet against Huddersfield at the weekend and will be hopeful of offering more attacking threat tonight, while James Milner is handed a fourth consecutive start in his preferred midfield role. The England international, who spent the majority of last season as a makeshift left-back, was one of the stars of the show a fortnight ago and has seemingly worked his way into Klopp's thinking again.
The former Arsenal man replaces Daniel Sturridge despite the latter's goal at the weekend, with Oxlade-Chamberlain having scored his first for the club in the reverse. That will see Roberto Firmino return to a central striking role with Salah remaining out wide. Both of them got braces in Slovenia a fortnight ago and, along with Coutinho, have directly contributed to four goals apiece already in this season's competition.
The Bosnian leads the line tonight fresh off the back of scoring the only goal of the game at NK Domzale on Saturday to hand Maribor a crucial victory, and with questions still abound over Liverpool's defending he will be dreaming of scoring a goal at Anfield tonight.
Tavares started the reverse fixture a fortnight ago, but he was dropped to the bench for the game against Domzale at the weekend following a 10-game scoring drought, and he has been left amongst the substitutes again tonight. It is likely to be a thankless task for whoever leads the line tonight, though.
There is just one change from the weekend win over Domzale, meanwhile, with Billong replacing Vrsic in the starting lineup.
The Reds wasted no time in building a commanding advantage and they went on to record a 7-0 win - their biggest ever away Champions League victory and the biggest by any English club on their travels in the competition.
It is unrealistic to expect something similar this evening despite Liverpool now enjoying the home advantage, but anything other than a comfortable victory for the Reds would be a huge shock considering what happened in Slovenia.
Saturday's 3-0 victory over Huddersfield Town was only their third win in their last 11 outings across all competitions, with three defeats and five draws in that time too. Another win tonight would mark back-to-back victories for the first time since August.
The Reds currently sit sixth in the Premier League table and are only three points off the top four, which would again have been their primary target for the campaign, but they are also 12 points adrift of runaway leaders Manchester City and that looks like a huge gap to make up even with so much of the campaign remaining.
It could be so much better for Klopp's side, though, and they could well have been playing for qualification tonight. The Reds should have won their opening two fixtures - against Sevilla at Anfield and Spartak Moscow in Russia - but their wastefulness in front of goal saw both matches end as draws before they finally picked up their first win of the campaign a fortnight ago by hammering Maribor.
That leaves Liverpool on five points in Group E, level with Spartak and just one in front of Sevilla at the halfway stage of the group.
The 7-0 win in Slovenia was also Liverpool's first win in their last eight Champions League group games, bringing an end to their worst ever run in the competition.
The Reds are unbeaten in their last 11 European home games stretching back to a 3-0 loss at the hands of Real Madrid in October 2014, but they have only won one of their last six home Champions League group games and have not keep an Anfield clean sheet in this competition since September 2009.
Klopp's side have generally been strong at the back at Anfield this season, though, despite the criticism aimed at their defence. They have conceded just five goals in their seven home games across all competitions this term, compared to 19 in their nine away outings.
The Slovenian champions, who have won six of their last seven domestic titles, look out of their depth at this level and, since picking up a late home draw against Spartak Moscow on matchday one, they have conceded 10 goals without reply in defeats to Sevilla and Liverpool.
No team in the entire competition had conceded more goals after three group games than Maribor - helped, of course, by that 7-0 defeat to Liverpool - and defeat tonight would spell their end of their Champions League hopes if Spartak Moscow also win away to Sevilla.
Darko Milanic's side have only lost three of their 24 matches across all competitions this season, but all three of those defeats have come in the Champions League. Domestically Maribor remain unbeaten in the league and cup, leaving them level on points with fierce rivals Olimpija Ljubljana at the top of the table.
The Slovenes have only ever won one match in the Champions League proper, though, with that coming in their first ever appearance in the competition when they beat Dynamo Kiev 1-0 way back in September 1999. Since then, they are winless in 14.
Maribor beat Bosnia side Zrinjski 3-2 on aggregate in the first round before overcoming Iceland's FH 2-0 to reach the playoffs. Hapoel Be'er Sheva awaited them there, and Maribor only scraped past the Israeli outfit on away goals following a 2-2 aggregate draw.
Milanic's side have actually won nine of their 12 away games across all competitions all season, but in the Champions League they have only won three of their last 15 on the road including qualifiers, drawing five and losing seven in that time.
Milanic was one of those barely given a chance to settle in behind the desk at Elland Road under Massimo Cellino, lasting only 32 days as Leeds United boss in 2014 before being sacked.
Maribor will be desperate not to be on the end of another hiding tonight, and as such they may come out in damage limitation mode from the word go here. I still expect Liverpool to run out comfortable and convincing winners, but they are unlikely to reach that seven-goal tally from a fortnight ago.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Liverpool 4-0 Maribor
The previous times came in the first round of the 2003-04 UEFA Cup, when they were held to a 1-1 draw with Olimpija in Ljubljana before running out 3-0 winners in the reverse at Anfield to progress into the next round.
Indeed, their most recent visit saw them on the end of a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the 2014-15 Champions League group stages, so another goalfest for Liverpool is certainly not out of the question tonight.
That is their only triumph in nine previous meetings with Premier League clubs, though, losing six of those and drawing two.
LIVERPOOL STARTING XI: Karius; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Klavan, Moreno; Can, Milner, Wijnaldum; Salah, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Firmino
MARIBOR STARTING XI: Handanovic; Billong, Rajcevic, Suler, Milec; Pihler, Viler; Bohar, Kabha, Hotic; Mesanovic
Elsewhere, Porto have also taken the lead against Leipzig through Hector Herrera.
Elsewhere, Dortmund now lead APOEL and Manchester City have levelled things up against Napoli through Otamendi.
The home side has once again dominated proceedings, but clear-cut chances have been few and far between and it has been a frustrating night for Jurgen Klopp's side so far.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's delivery was initially met by Firmino, but the final touch came off Billong to send the ball looping towards goal. Handanovic showed great athleticism for a 39-year-old, though, clawing the ball onto the woodwork and behind for a corner.
Considering how much of the ball they have seen, though, they have created enough even accounting for Maribor's defensive style. The visitors have had 11 men packed behind the ball almost from the first whistle, which is understandable considering what happened a week ago, and it is up to Liverpool to find a way to break them down.
You'd have to think that Sevilla and Spartak Moscow will both beat Maribor in the second round of fixtures, so a draw for Liverpool would very much be two dropped points - something they cannot really afford in such a tight group.
Alexander-Arnold whips the delivery in from the right flank, where most of Liverpool's best work has come from tonight, and Salah darts in front of his man to flick a tidy finish past the keeper.
Milner was so deadly from the spot last season, but this time he sees his powerful low penalty brilliantly turned onto the post by Handanovic. The penalty itself was not terrible, it was just a really good stop from the keeper.
There has also been another goal in the other Group E clash, with Sevilla doubling their lead against Spartak Moscow.
Can races on to the return ball and immediately tucks a confident finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the box, and that should be game over now.
A corner is played short and Moreno whips his subsequent delivery into the box which is only flicked on to the back post by a defender. Sturridge is waiting there unmarked, and he controls the ball before firing it past the keeper.
After a difficult first half in which Liverpool failed to score, they began to create more in the second 45 minutes and goals from Mohamed Salah, Emre Can and Daniel Sturridge ultimately handed them a comfortable win despite Milner also missing a penalty.
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for tonight's match as Liverpool make it back-to-back Champions League wins to take control of Group E. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too. From me, though, it is goodbye for now!
