Match: Maribor v Liverpool
Date: Tuesday, October 17
Time: 2:45 AM Wednesday (SGT)/ 12:15 AM Wednesday (IST)/ 7:45 PM Tuesday (BST)
Venue: Ljudski vrt, Maribor
Live Stream: Starhub Go app (Singapore)
TV Info: Eurosport (Singapore)/ Sony Ten (India)/ BT Sport (UK)
Overview
Liverpool will hope to be third time lucky when they head to Maribor on Tuesday in search of their first Champions League victory of the season. Two points from their opening two group matches was not what boss Jurgen Klopp would have expected, especially after surrendering a winning position late on at home to Sevilla in their opening game. And back-to-back matches against Slovenian champions Maribor present the Merseysiders with an ideal opportunity to strengthen their claim for progression to the knockout phase, before ending their campaign with a difficult trip to Sevilla and home clash with Spartak Moscow.
Having failed to convert their dominance into victory in Moscow last time out, the Reds have the chance to claim only their second Champions League away win in almost eight years - their last came against Debrecen in November 2009.
Maribor are making their third appearance in the Champions League after 1999/00 and 2014/15 but have never reached the knockout stages. Meanwhile, this is Liverpool's 10th Champions League campaign, and only their second appearance in the group stages in the last eight seasons. They haven't reached the knockout stages of the competition since 2008/09. The Slovenian side have won only one of their 14 games in the Champions League group stages (D5 L8) - it came in their first-ever match back in September 1999 against Dynamo Kiev (1-0). They have never scored more than once in those 14 games.
However, Maribor's home record in the 12,500-capacity Stadion Ljudski vrt commands respect.
This is the third time they have reached the group stage and back in 2014/15 they held Chelsea to a 1-1 draw. Sporting Lisbon only picked up a point away in Slovenia's second biggest city, while Schalke clinched a narrow 1-0 win.
Team news
Joe Gomez is available as the right-back returns from suspension, but he is likely to be left on the bench - having played against Manchester United on Saturday - with Jurgen Klopp set to use Trent Alexander-Arnold as he continues to rotate his young full-backs.
Klopp intends to keep changes to a minimum but could give Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain his first Champions League start for the club. Sadio Mane remains a long-term absentee.
Head to Head
This will be the first competitive encounter between Maribor and Liverpool. Maribor have won only one of their eight games against English opposition in all competitions (D2 L5), 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 eight games.
Meanwhile, Liverpool's only previous encounter with a Slovenian club came in the first round of the 2003/04 UEFA Cup. They drew 1-1 away against Olimpija Ljubljana before a 3-0 win at Anfield.
