Liverpool see off Maribor at Anfield

Mohamad Salah, Emre Can and Daniel Sturridge were on target as the Reds eased to victory at Anfield.

Liverpool edged closer to qualification for the Champions League knockout stages with a 3-0 win over Maribor.

Jurgen Klopp’s side are hardly charging towards their target – despite the 7-0 thrashing of the Slovenians a fortnight ago – and this match reflected their incremental progress in Group E.

There was another missed penalty, from James Milner, but leading scorer Mohamed Salah’s 10th of the season, a classy Emre Can goal and a late Daniel Sturridge strike secured victory and they lead Sevilla by a point – victory in Spain in three weeks would see the Reds qualify with a match to spare.

What they said

Star man

Roberto Firmino: Won a penalty with a brilliant piece of individual skill and his clever running and positional awareness was a constant threat.

Data point

James Milner misses a penalty against Maribor (Peter Byrne/PA)

Liverpool have now missed their last four penalties at Anfield, taken by three different players. Milner has missed his last two – both saved in front of the Kop – after scoring his first 10 for the club.

Tweet of the match

– Liverpool fan site Anfield HQ’s eyes were fixed on a picture of Jordan Henderson – could he be the next man on the spot?

Moment of the match

Steven Gerrard is currently the Liverpool Under-18’s manager (Nigel French/Empics)

Half-time announcement for a ‘Mr Gerrard’ to make himself known to the nearest steward in the Main Stand. How Liverpool could have done with Stevie G coming off the bench to enliven proceedings.

Player Ratings

Liverpool: Loris Karius 6, Trent Alexander-Arnold 7, Joel Matip 6, Ragnar Klavan 6, Alberto Moreno 6, Emre Can 7, James Milner 7, Georginio Wijnaldum 5, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 7, Roberto Firmino 8, Mohamed Salah 7. Substitutes: Jordan Henderson (for Wijnaldum, 17) 6, Daniel Sturridge (for Salah, 74) 6, Marko Grujic (for Firmino, 85) 6.

Maribor: Jasmin Handanovic 7, Jean-Claude Billong 5, Aleksander Rajcevic 5, Marko Suler 6, Martin Milec 6, Aleks Pihler 6, Marwan Kabha 6, Mitja Viler 6, Dino Hotic 5, Jasmin Mesanovic 3, Damjan Bohar 4. Substitutes: Marcos Tavares (for Mesanovic, 59) 5, Gregor Bajde (for Bojar, 69) 5, Valon Ahmedi (on for Hotic, 81) 5.

Who’s up next?

West Ham v Liverpool (Premier League, Saturday November 4)