Liverpool look for more of the same against Maribor

A club-record European away win has boosted Liverpool FC's UEFA Champions League prospects and the English side will aim to be similarly clinical when NK Maribor come to Anfield.

• Jürgen Klopp's team were 7-0 winners at Maribor on matchday three, their first victory in Group E after two draws. The Reds have five points and are level with FC Spartak Moskva at the top.

• Maribor have one point, having drawn their first game but lost the next two, and will be unable to finish in the top two if they lose and Spartak win away to Sevilla FC.

Match background

Liverpool
• Liverpool's only previous fixtures against Slovenian opposition came in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup first round, when they drew 1-1 at NK Olimpija Ljubljana before a 3-0 victory at Anfield.

• Five-time European champions Liverpool did not take part in UEFA competition in 2016/17, when they finished fourth in the Premier League. They are bidding to reach the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds for the first time since 2008/09.

• The Reds earned their place in the group stage – for the tenth time overall – with a 6-3 play-off aggregate victory over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, winning 2-1 away and 4-2 at home.

• Before being held 2-2 at home by Sevilla FC on matchday one, Liverpool's previous six European games at Anfield had ended in a home win. They are unbeaten in their last 11 European home matches (W7 D4), since a 3-0 loss to Real Madrid CF on 22 October 2014.

Maribor
• Having gone down 3-0 at Sevilla on matchday two, Maribor have lost three of their last seven European away games (W2 D2). However, despite their record European home defeat by Liverpool last time out, they have lost just four of their last 15 matches, home and away (W6 D5).

• Maribor's sole victory in the UEFA Champions League proper, group stage to final, came away from home with a 1-0 success at FC Dynamo Kyiv on their debut in September 1999. Their away record since reads D2 L4.

• Maribor have won only one of their nine previous games against English teams, beating Wigan Athletic FC 2-1 in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League group stage.

• The Slovenian side have lost on all four of their trips to England, most recently a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea FC in the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• Maribor's overall record against English clubs is W1 D2 L6.

• The Slovenes are in the group stage for a third time, having previously competed in 1999/2000 and 2014/15. In that latter group appearance they drew 1-1 at FC Schalke 04 and lost at both Sporting Clube de Portugal (1-3) and Chelsea FC (0-6 – their biggest away defeat in the competition).

• Maribor qualified for this season's UEFA Champions League by winning a sixth Slovenian title in seven seasons in 2016/17. In Europe last term, they beat PFC Levski Sofia and Aberdeen FC before losing to Gabala SC in the UEFA Europa League play-offs.

• Maribor got to the current group stage by overcoming HŠK Zrinjski of Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-2 on aggregate in the second qualifying round (2-1 away, 1-1 home) and Iceland's FH Hafnarfjördur in the next round (1-0 home, 1-0 away). In the play-offs they went down 2-1 at Hapoel Beer-Sheva FC in the first leg but progressed on away goals thanks to a 1-0 home success.

Coach and player links
• Aljaž Cotman was at Wolverhampton Wanderers FC between 2010 and 2013, but left without making a senior first-team appearance.

• Darko Milanič spent 32 days in charge of Leeds United AFC in September and October 2014.

Match facts

Liverpool
• Liverpool have won only three of their last 11 games in all competitions.

• The Reds had drawn their last three home games in all competitions before Saturday's 3-0 defeat of Huddesfield Town AFC.

• The 4-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur FC on 22 October was the second time Liverpool conceded four goals in the opening hour of a Premier League game since February 1994.

• Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mané are on the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or. The winner will be announced on 6 December.

• Mané has not featured since sustaining a hamstring injury playing for Senegal against Cape Verde on 7 October.

• Adam Lallana (thigh) and Nathaniel Clyne (back) are yet to feature this season.

Maribor
• Including the final two games of last season, Maribor are 16 league matches unbeaten (W11 D5).

• Maribor have won their last four away matches in the league, scoring nine goals.

• Bosnian forward Jasmin Mešanović has scored seven goals in his last eight domestic matches, including the only goal at NK Domžale on Saturday.