Good evening! What a treat we have in store for us tonight as the
Champions League quarter-finals get underway with Liverpool hosting Porto at Anfield!
This is a repeat of last season's round-of-16 tie - when Liverpool ran out 5-0 winners on aggregate - but the Reds may not have things so one-sided again this time around. Even so, it appears to be a kind draw for last season's beaten finalists, and they will hope to build a good lead to take back to Portugal next week.
Kickoff is just around the corner, so let's have a quick look at the team news...
LIVERPOOL STARTING XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Milner; Henderson, Fabinho, Keita; Salah, Firmino, Mane
SUBS: Wijnaldum, Gomez, Sturridge, Mignolet, Shaqiri, Origi, Matip
PORTO STARTING XI: Casillas; Maxi Pereira, Felipa, Militao, Telles; Danilo Pereira, Torres, Otavinho, Tiquinho, Corona; Marega
SUBS: Leite, Costa, Hernani, Brahimi, A Pereira, Vana, Fernando
KICKOFF: Here we go! Anfield is rocking as Porto get us underway!
CHANCE! An early chance for the in-form Marega as he peels away form Lovren into a bit of space inside the box. He is picked out in the area, but cannot wrap his foot around the half-volley and fires it comfortably wide when he probably should have done better.
Porto have started this match very brightly. They have seen the lion's share of possession in the opening exchanges and plenty of it has come in the Liverpool half too.
GOAL! LIVERPOOL 1-0 PORTO (NABY KEITA)
© Reuters
GOAL! It is a dream start for Liverpool as they break the deadlock inside five minutes!
Milner plays a good ball forward for Mane, who cuts back on himself before poking it through to Firmino. The Brazilian tees up Keita, who goes for goal, and his effort takes a big deflection off Torres to fly past a helpless Casillas.
Liverpool are straight back on the front foot and Firmino breaks in behind the defence, but he just takes a little too long over his finish and the eventual shot is blocked.
Liverpool have very much settled into this game now. Porto made a positive start and were keen to get on the front foot straight away, but that early Liverpool goal may alter their approach now.
It will be interesting to see how Porto do approach the rest of this game now. At 1-0 they remain very much in the match, of course, but they will wary of how they were blown away in the first leg last season and went into the second with no chance to qualifying. At the very least they will want to still be in the tie for the return fixture.
UPDATE: Update from the other Champions League tie taking place tonight - the all-English affair between Spurs and Man City, where Guardiola's side have been awarded a penalty via VAR. However, Sergio Aguero has missed from the spot!
Another assist to add to Firmino's Champions League tally...
Salah spins away from Telles down the right and looks up to see both Firmino and Mane in the middle, but Militao comes across to make an important interception.
Porto break from the resulting corner, and up pops Salah at left-back to thwart it before winning a free kick! Great workrate from the Liverpool man.
CHANCE! Crucial piece of defending from Van Dijk as he comes across to deny Marega a really good chance after Soares had found space down the left flank. It is a goal kick to Liverpool too, with Van Dijk doing enough without conceding the corner.
YELLOW CARD! Soares picks up a yellow card for complaining about that being given as a goal kick rather than a corner.
There have been one or two signs that Porto are capable of getting a goal in this match, and any sort of away goal can prove to be crucial in this competition. Liverpool are not exactly watertight at the back right now.
CHANCE! Huge chance for Liverpool to double their advantage! A loose pass back towards the defence releases Salah, who finds himself with only the keeper to beat. He does really well to stay on his feet after a heavy and desperate challenge from the defender, but then sends his shot trickling wide of the target. Big, big chance.
Porto got away with one there - not only with the missed chance but also with the attempted saving tackling on Salah. Felipe could have easily seen red had Salah gone down.
GOAL! LIVERPOOL 2-0 PORTO (ROBERTO FIRMINO)
© Reuters
GOAL! Liverpool do have their second goal, and it is a really well-worked move to leave Firmino with the simplest of finishes!
Henderson threads a lovely pass down the inside of the full-back for Alexander-Arnold, who in turns puts it across the six-yard box for Firmino to tap home. Liverpool in complete control of this match now!
Liverpool may just have one eye on wrapping this tie up in the first leg now. It is dangerous to begin thinking like that in the Champions League, of course, but they are in control here.
CHANCE! Porto have the chance to change the whole feel of this tie as a Torres pass finds its way all the way through to Marega, who suddenly only has the keeper to beat. Marega tries to slide his finish into the bottom corner, but Alisson stays big to make a vital save.
PENALTY APPEAL! Seconds later Porto have a penalty appeal as Alisson bats the ball onto the hand of Alexander-Arnold on its way behind for a corner, but VAR checks and says no penalty. It would have been very harsh!
CHANCE! The resulting corner leads to another big chance for Porto, though, as the ball is only cleared as far as the edge of the box. It is headed back into Marega, but he cannot catch his volley on the turn when again he should have scored!
CHANCE! Liverpool have the opportunity to kill this match - if not the tie - off at the other end as Keita threads a lovely pass through for Henderson. The skipper clips his cross into the box and Firmino runs on to it, but he guides his half-volley narrowly off target.
Here is Liverpool's second goal for your viewing pleasure...
This first half has flown by. It has been action-packed from start to finish so far and, despite Liverpool's 2-0 lead, Porto have shown enough to suggest that the next goal could be crucial.
Liverpool come flying forward on another break, moments after a poor touch from Firmino saw another one break down. The hosts do look as though they have more goals in them tonight.
Neither Liverpool nor Porto look like they will change their playing style in this one - we have seen two goals but we could have easily seen a few more too. It has been a really entertaining contest.
Fabinho is harshly penalised for a heavy challenge on Danilo which saw him get the ball before clattering into the man. It was a great challenge, but with that much contact nowadays it will also be given as a free kick.
There will be one minute of added time at the end of this first half.
HALF TIME: LIVERPOOL 2-0 PORTO
The first half comes to an end at Anfield and it is Liverpool who are in control of the match, at least as far as the scoreline is concerned.
The Reds have been the better team and deserve their lead - which could also be bigger at the interval - but Porto have offered a regular threat going forward themselves and have shown signs that they are capable of getting a crucial away goal here.
The opening goal arrived after just five minutes as
Naby Keita - goalless for Liverpool before the weekend - made it two in two for the club with a deflected drive which left Casillas no chance.
It was lovely work in the build-up from Milner, Mane and Firmino to tee up Keita, who shot took a big touch off Oliver Torres on its way into the top corner.
Firmino grabbed the assist for that goal, and he got his own name on the scoresheet before the half-hour mark with a simple finish at the end of a slick passing move.
This time it was Henderson who unlocked the Porto defence with his through-ball to Alexander-Arnold, and from there the full-back had the relatively easy task of playing his pass across the six-yard box where Firmino was waiting to tap it home.
Both sides have had great chances to add more goals in what was an action-packed opening 45 minutes, with Salah and Firmino missing the best for Liverpool to make it 3-0 and surely kill the match off.
Porto's dangerman Moussa Marega has also been guilty of missing a couple of clear goalscoring opportunities too, while Alexander-Arnold has survived a VAR penalty shout.
KICKOFF: Liverpool get us back underway for the second half at Anfield!
DISALLOWED GOAL! Liverpool have the ball in the back of the net again as Mane converts from Henderson's fine cross, but the linesman's flag is raised immediately. There will be a VAR check, though...
VAR! The decision stands! It was so, so tight and whichever way the initial decision went it may not have been overturned. As it is, though, Liverpool's lead remains at two.
Almost a mix-up between Alisson and Van Dijk as the keeper comes off his line to try to deal with the ball, but Van Dijk instead takes control and clears it before clattering into his own keeper. Liverpool survive!
CHANCE! A Porto corner is flicked on into a dangerous area and cleared well by Liverpool, who then break. The ball is fed into the path of Salah, but Danilo has tracked him all the way and gets a crucial touch on the ball to take the sting off Salah's shot.
Klopp has just changed things around a little here with Milner and Alexander-Arnold swapping flanks.
The noise levels rise inside Anfield as Liverpool knock the ball about inside the Porto half, probing for a way through. This is all about game management for them now as an away goal for Porto completely changes the complexion of things.
UPDATE: It is still goalless between Tottenham and Man City in North London, but Spurs have just been forced to withdraw Harry Kane due to an ankle injury which looks like it could keep him sidelined for a while.
It's all Liverpool at the moment, with Porto content to sit back and try to hit the hosts on the break. A 2-0 scoreline would be a very interesting one ahead of the second leg, if it stays like this.
YELLOW CARD! Felipe picks up a yellow card for a late challenge on Milner, but only after he got back into position to thwart a bright Liverpool interchange between Alexander-Arnold and Salah.
PORTO SUB: Change for Porto as Yacine Brahimi replaces Soares.
Salah collects a pass from Henderson before cutting inside and going for goal, but his effort hits Firmino. Moments later he comes slaloming forward again but this time his shot hits Henderson on the way behind!
Another VAR check for Liverpool to survive here despite no appeals from the Porto players. The ball hits Lovren from a corner and the replay does show that it hits his arm, but VAR quickly rules it out.
Fabinho has had a good game in front of the Liverpool defence tonight. He has made a number of really good challenges and protected his back four expertly at times.
SAVE! Marega makes a good run down the right channel and is found before being pushed wide by Lovren. The Porto striker still manages to get a shot away, but Alisson makes the save from a tight angle.
CLOSE! Mane exchanges passes with Keita before looking to bend a finish into the top corner, but his effort drifts narrowly wide of the far post.
Just under 20 minutes remaining in this match and still a goal either way could have a big impact on this tie. The game has entered a bit of a lull right now, though.
LIVERPOOL SUB: Liverpool make their first change of the evening as Divock Origi replaces Mane.
PORTO SUB: Porto also make a change as Bruno Costa comes on for Torres.
Really positive from Origi straight away as he runs straight at his marker and wins a free kick right on the left edge of the area...
Liverpool are just controlling the ball at the moment and in truth both teams looked relatively content with the 2-0 scoreline right now. Porto will of course want an away goal, but they are still in the tie at 2-0.
PORTO SUB: A third and final change for Porto as Maxi Pereira comes off for Fernando.
CHANCE! Porto have had the chances for an away goal tonight, and almost all of them have fallen to Marega. He gets in behind the defence again here but then fires wide of the near post when he had Otavio unmarked in the middle!
UPDATE: Big, big goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where Spurs have just taken the lead against Man City through Son!
LIVERPOOL SUB: Another change for Liverpool sees Daniel Sturridge replace Firmino, who has been very good tonight.
There could be danger for Liverpool here... VAR is checking a penalty in the Liverpool box and then a high challenge from Salah in the Porto box seconds later which could be a red card.
Liverpool escape on both fronts. The penalty would have been very soft, but Salah's challenge could well have seen him sent off even if there didn't appear to be any malice in it.
Time is ticking away for Porto to get something from this game now. At 2-0 they are still in this tie, but Liverpool will be even bigger favourites than they were at the start of this match. Liverpool, meanwhile, will be clinging on to this clean sheet now.
Porto are pushing for that away goal now, but they have been too passive for much of this second half and they may have left it too late.
There will be three minutes of added time at the end of this first leg.
FULL TIME: LIVERPOOL 2-0 PORTO
It is advantage Liverpool in this quarter-final tie, then, as they ease to a 2-0 victory over Porto at Anfield to leave them well on course to reach the semi-finals for a second successive year.
First-half goals from Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino did the damage and, while they had the chances to score more, they will also be relieved not to have conceded a crucial away goal which would have completely changed the complexion of the tie.
Right, that is all we have time for this evening!
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for tonight's Champions League showdown as Liverpool put one foot in the semi-finals with victory over Porto. 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!
