Liverpool v Porto: Champions League quarter-final, first leg – live!

84 min: There’s a VAR review for a high tackle by Mo Salah on Danilo at the edge of the Porto penalty area. The Egyptian avoids a booking or red card. He went in over the top of the ball with his studs showing and caught the Porto captain high on the shin – that should be a straight red card but he somehow avoids any punishment at all.

83 min: Virgil Van Dijk puts the ball out for a corner under pressure from Moussa Marega. Liverpool clear their lines.

79 min: I’m not sure if it was intended to be a shot or a cross, but this time Marega does square the ball across the face of the Liverpool goal, but there’s nobody up in support to convert. Liverpool substitution: Daniel Sturridge, who I keep forgetting still plays for them, on, Bobby Firmino off.

78 min: Marega shoots high and wide over the Liverpool goal after failing to spot an excellent gallop to the far post from Otavia. He should have looked up and squared the ball, but he simply didn’t see his team-mate’s run.

74 min: Divock Origi makes an immediate impression, picking up the ball and charging towards the Porto penalty area. He’s hacked to the ground just outside it by Jesus Corona, earning his side a free-kick in a promising position, on the left corner of the area. The set-piece goes to waste, however, as Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold hatch some training ground plan that was probably more fiendish in their imagination than it was in practice. Over the bar from the young full-back.

70 min: Porto are defending a lot deeper than they had been previously and making little or no effort to get men forward. They’re clearly happy to settle for a 2-0 defeat but will be hopeful of nicking an away goal on the break or from a set-piece. That would certainly make Liverpool’s task in the second leg a little more difficult. Liverpool substitution: Sadio Mane off, Divock Origi on. Porto substitution: Oliver Torres off, Bruno Costa on.

67 min: With everyone in the stadium completely oblivious, there’s a VAR check for a possible handball at a corner from Dejan Lovren. The penalty nobody appealed for, for the “foul” that wasn’t committed, is not given. This is ridiculous use of VAR, which again, offside aside, is only supposed to be used in the case of “clear and obvious errors”. The crowd had no idea what was going on there.

64 min: The intensity from both sides has dropped noticeably, with Liverpool’s players perhaps conserving their energy for their weekend appointment with Chelsea. Porto have about them the air of a side that have decided a 2-0 defeat away from home might not be the worst result in the world and that they’ll happily take it home and attempt to overturn it in the second leg.

62 min: Porto substitution: Francisco Soares off, Yacine Brahimi on. The Algerian international is a decent left-winger and could cause Liverpool some problems.

60 min: Alexander-Arnold gallops into the Porto penalty area,, scoops the ball wide to Salah and runs on in anticipation of the return pass. It comes from the head of Salah, but running out of room in which to manouvre, young Trent eschews the option of volleying towards goal and has to settle for a corner instead. Before it’s taken, Porto central defender Felipe is booked for some indiscretion or other.

58 min: Liverpool enjoy a spell of dominance, controlling possession as they press and probe for an opening on the edge of the final third. Salah and Firmino try to play a one-two in a tight space on the edge of the box, but Danilo steps in to win possession and ease the pressure on his side.

55 min: Liverpool win a throw-in deep in Liverpool territory after a mini mix-up between Lovren and Alisson. The centre-half puts the ball out of play and then turns to his goalkeeper, making a talk-to-me gesture by flapping his fingers alongside his yap. The throw-in is taken and Liverpool clear. They’re winning fairly comfortably, but showing a few minor signs of sloppiness.

53 min: Good defending from Danilo, who does well to get back and muscle Mo Salah off the ball before the Liverpool man can unleash a shot from a good position.

51 min: Crossed wires between Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson almost lead to Moussa Marega being gifted a scoring opportunity after Liverpool’s goalkeeper is a little too quick off his line. Van Dijk takes responsibility for hacking the ball clear, dodging a potentially embarrassing bullet but failing to avoid a minor collision with his panic-stricken goalkeeper.

49 min: Porto got away with one there- it was a very, very tight offside. Porto right-back Maxi Pereira will be mightily relieved, as it was him giving away the ball a few metres in front of his own penalty area that set up the move that led to Mane getting the ball in the net.

48 min: DISALLOWED GOAL! Sadio Mane volleys home a diagonal cross from Jordan Henderson from the edge of the six-yard box, but his effort is ruled out for offside. Our Spanish referee, Senor Lahoz, consults VAR and the decision stands.

46 min: Porto enjoy an early spell of possession which comes to an end when a wayward pass is intercepted by Fabinho, who sends Liverpool upfield on the counter-attack.

46 min: Liverpool are kept waiting as Porto are late back out on to the pitch after getting their half-time address from Sergio Conceicao. Therer are no changes in personnel on either side as Liverpool kick off.

Liverpool go in for the break with a two-goal lead. Naby Keita will be credited with their opener, despite his shot from the edge of the penalty area being steered past Iker Casillas by the outstretched leg and foot of Oliver Torres. Roberto Firmino doubled Liverpool’s lead, slotting home from a couple of yards out after excellent build-up play from Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

45 min: Porto win a throw-in halfway inside their own half as an entertaining first half draws to a close. They’re two goals down, but their cause is far from lost – they’re creating chances and might have scored a goal or two if Moussa Marega had showed a little more composure in front of goal.

44 min: Danilo goes down holding his shin following a crunching tackle from Fabinho. The Liverpool midfielder is penalised, despite replays showing his challenge was textbook.

40 min: While I was pontificating on the misuse of VAR, Dejan Lovren was called upon to sprint back and dispossess Moussa Marega as he threatened Liverpool’s goal again. Good defending from the Croatian, against a striker who’s proving a real handful.

36 min: Going back to that VAR decision, I personally was a little bit surprised that Porto didn’t get a penalty. As he attempted to clear the ball, Alisson steered it on to the outstretched arm of Alexander-Arnold. I wouldn’t say it was a deliberate hand-ball by the right-back, but his arm was outstretched and could therefore be interpreted as being in an “unnatural position”. The handball law needs to be amended, to be honest.

Also, VAR is only supposed to be used in the event of “clear and obvious errors”, which wasn’t the case there. The referee simply buckled in the face of the pressure put on him by the Porto players who surrounded him after the ball struck Alexander-Arnold’s arm.

33 min: Roberto Firmino attempts to place a half-volley in the top corner as he gets on the end of Jordan Henderson cross from the right. It’s not a bad effort from distance, but the ball goes high and wide.

30 min: A corner they almost score from! The ball is arced into the penalty area and only half-cleared to the edge of the area. It’s headed back towards goal by Danilo and somewhere near the penalty spot, Marega swivels and sends a volley straight at Alisson. “If anything he’s hit it too well, Clive!” as Andy Townsend might say – if he’d placed it anywhere else on target he was guaranteed a goal.

29 min: Save!!! Alisson does well to save from Moussa Marega after the Porto striker was through on goal with only the Brazilian to beat. In the subsequent clamour to clear the ball, Alisson punches it out for a corner off Trent Alexander-Arnold. There’s a hint of handball and the ref consults his Video Assistant Referee. No penalty, Porto have to settle for a corner.

27 min: Porto were well and truly carved open there. Hats off to Jordan Henderson, who picked out Trent Alexander-Arnold with a wonderful delivery. The Liverpool right-back did well to keep himself onside, before looking up, spotting Firmino unmarked on the edge of the six yard box and squaring the ball.

Liverpool double their lead! Roberto Firmino scores with a tap-in from three of four yards out, slotting home a low Trent Alexander-Arnold cross from the right.

21 min: Quick as a flash, Mo Salah latches on to a shockingly loose pass back towards his own penalty area by one of Porto’s midfielders and is clean through on goal. As he bore down on the Porto penalty area, Felipe lungged in and but unable to put him off. With Iker Casillas advancing, Salah rolled the ball towards the far corner, only for his aim to let him down. The ball trundles a couple of feet the wrong side of the far upright.

20 min: Francisco Soares was booked in the aftermath of Porto’s most recent scoring opportunity, for what I can only presume was dissent. I suspect he may have paid for the sins of his team-mate Otavio.

18 min: A low Salah volley from outside the penalty area needs a little bit of saving and Iker Casillas does exactly that, the bounce of the ball on its way towards him making his effort less than routine. Moments previously, Francisco Soares had got in behind Trent Alexander-Arnold to tee up Moussa Marega. Virgil Van Dijk was on hand to prevent the striker from getting a shot away. FYI: Only Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski have scored more than the Porto striker in this season’s Champions League.

16 min: Liverpool win a corner after a rampaging Mo Salah run into the penalty area is abruptly ended by the intervention of Eder Militao. Nothing comes from the ensuing set piece, although Porto do embark on a counter-attack. Who pops up in the Liverpool left-back position to put a stop to their gallop? Mo Salah, that’s who.

13 min: Porto forward Otavio is correctly penalised for handball and gives Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz an earful for what he feels is a harsh decision. It isn’t and he must know it, but he complains anyway. In return, he gets a ferocious telling-off from the official, but even then continues to complain. Somewhat surprisingly, Senor Lahoz keeps his yellow card in his pocket.

10 min: Liverpool advance with Trent Alexander-Arnold on the ball. He moves it on to Henderson, who tries to play Mo Salah in behind down the right flank. The ball goes out of play off Porto centre-half Eder Millitao and Salah appeals for the corner. The referee ignores him and awards a goal-kick.

7 min: Well, well … what a start. There was an element of good fortune about Liverpool’s opener, in so far as Oliver Torrres dived in to attempt to block Naby Keita’s shot from the edge of therpenalty area, but succeeded only in diverting the course of the effort and sending the ball into the top corner past the hopelessly wrong-footed Casillas.

The attack was begun by James Milner, who played the ball wide to Sadio Mane. He advanced down the left, before playing it to Keita on the edge of the penalty area and the rest, as they say, is history.

6 min: Another chance for Liverpool, as Bobby Firmino is played in behind the Porto defence, but fails in his effort to lift the ball over the advancing Iker Casillas.

Liverpool take the lead courtesy of a Naby Keita shot that takes a wicked deflection off Oliver Torres and sails into the top right-hand corner.

4 min: Danilo puts the ball out of play near the halfway line following a robust challenge on James Milner that Liverpool’s stand-in left-back doesn’t appreciate.

2 min: A poor clearance from Alisson gives Porto a throw-in deep in Liverpool territory. The ball’s crossed in from the right and in the Liverpool penalty area, Moussa Marega gives Dejan Lovren the slip and unleashes a shot. He fails to connect properly and his effort sails well wide. A lively start from the Portuguese side, here.

1 min: An early cross into the Liverpool penalty area from Alex Telles on the left flank, but there’s nobody there in a Porto shirt to get on the end of it. James Milner clears.

1 min: Porto get the ball rolling, their players wearing blue and white striped shirts, blue shorts and white socks. Liverpool’s players, as you might expect, wear their customary red shirts, red shorts and red socks.

There’s quite a racket. It’s difficult to hear the Champions League anthem over the raucous chanting of Liverpool’s fans as the two teams go through the last of the pre-match formalities. Kick-off is just a couple of minutes away.

Not long now: Liverpool’s supporters go through their pre-match rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone as they wait for the teams to emerge from the tunnel and go through the last of the pre-match niceties. Beneath the stand, Liverpool are first out of their dressing-room and Jordan Henderson has his game face win as he prepares to lead out the troops. Porto are soon out to join them and the teams make their way out on to the pitch.

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, van Dijk, Milner, Henderson, Fabinho, Keita, Salah, Firmino, Mane.

Subs: Mignolet, Wijnaldum, Gomez, Sturridge, Shaqiri, Origi, Matip.

FC Porto: Casillas, Maxi Pereira, Felipe, Eder Militao, Alex Telles, Corona, Danilo Pereira, Torres, Otavio, Marega, Tiquinho Soares.

Subs: Vana, Diogo Leite, Costa, Hernani, Brahimi, Andre Pereira, Fernando.

Referee: Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

Alex Telles starts at left-back, having recovered from injury. As expected, Eder Militao has moved inside to the centre of defence to cover for the suspended Pepe, allowing Maxi Pereira to step in at right-back. Oliver Torres comes into midfield in place of the suspended Hector Herrera.

Jurgen Klopp makes three changes to the Liverpool team that beat Southampton on Friday. As expected, James Milner replaces the suspended Andy Robertson at left-back, while Jordan Henderson is in for Gini Wijnaldum, who picked up an injury on Liverpool’s visit to the south coast. Dejan Lovren replaces Joel Matip in central defence, making his first start since Wolves eliminated Liverpool from the FA Cup in the first week of January. We’ll have both line-ups and the subs for you very shortly.

Some pre-match listening: Max Rushden was hurling the interrogatory projectiles as myself, Jonathan Wilson and the Racing Post’s Mark Langdon reviewed the weekend’s football action and looked forward to the midweek Champions League action, on the current issue of the Guardian’s Football Weekly podcast. If you’re not already a subscriber, where have you been for the past 12 years? You can sign up in all of the usual pod places.

Jurgen Klopp speaks: “Everybody wanted Porto, until you have Porto,” said Liverpool’s manager. “We didn’t want Porto, to be honest. They only look at numbers, names and stuff like that. People with a proper idea about football didn’t want to have Porto. That’s the truth. But we have it. But nobody wanted Liverpool, by the way. It will be a tough one but we are really looking forward to it.”

Sergio Conceicao speaks: “We look at Liverpool as a very strong team, who in this stadium in 16 games only drew two,” said Porto’s manager in his press conference yesterday. “We know all about their power. Liverpool is on a very high level. Every week they have a very high level of competition. With us it’s not like that, no disrespect to the other teams. Realising the power of the opponent, our absences and that we are in the first game of the quarter-finals, we have to be smart and creative in the strategy for the game.”

Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson misses out through suspension after picking up a daft booking – his third yellow card of the tournament – against Bayern Munich in the last round. He is likely to be replaced by James Milner, with Fabinho making up a midfield trio alongside Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum.

Porto, will have to make do without their Mexican midfielder Héctor Herrera, while Pepe is also confined to the naughty step on the back of the totting-up procedure. Interestingly – or not, depending on your point of view – two of the three yellow cards picked up by Pepe were brandished in the Europa League, in which he represented Besiktas before re-signing for Porto in January. He is likely to be replaced in the heart of their defence by right-back Eder Militao moving inside, while one of Jesus Corona or Maxi Pereira is likely to start in his place on the right. Danilo, Otavio and Militao are all one booking away from being suspended for the second leg.

Porto’s speedy Brazilian left-back Alex Telles is a major injury concern for Porto and would be a massive loss if he doesn’t recover from a hip injury, having contributed five goals and 10 assists to the cause already this season. He is understood to be on Tottenham’s summer shopping list and if fit enough to play, is likely to have his mettle rigorously tested tonight.

Anfield is the scene for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final between Liverpool and Porto, a match that has been somewhat overshadowed by an all English affair due to take place simultaneously 209 miles away at a certain spanking new stadium on London’s White Hart Lane. While Liverpool got the draw pretty much everyone wanted, they should underestimate Porto, a side against whom they they have never lost a European game, at their peril.

Second in the Portuguese league table behind Benfica, but only on goal difference, Sérgio Conceicao’s side emerged from Group D ahead of Schalke, Galatasaray and Lokomotiv Moscow, before eliminating Roma in the first knockout round. They face their sternest test yet tonight at Anfield, a ground where they held the hosts scoreless in last season’s round of 16, before getting thumped 5-0 by Liverpool in their own Estádio do Dragão. Kick-off tonight is at 8pm (BST), but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.