Liverpool 7-0 Spartak Moscow: Coutinho, Mane, Salah and Firmino revel in attacking masterclass

Full-time: Liverpool 7-0 Spartak Moscow

A splendid evening for the Reds as they surged into the last 16 of the Champions League in some style.

The 'fab four' of Coutinho, Firmino, Mane and Salah all got into the act to blitz the sorry Russians and perhaps sent a message to upcoming opponents Everton and the rest of the Premier League and Europe with a wondrous display of attacking showmanship.

Coutinho netted his first hat-trick for Liverpool, Mane scored the goal of the night, Firmino made the game safe with a smart finish for the third while Salah demonstrated his supreme confidence in front of goal with a composed strike to put the icing on the cake.

That's all for IB Times UK's coverage of proccedings at Anfield. Have a good evening.

Inevitable that Salah was going to get in on the act, wasn't it?

Milner's low cross is dummied by Sturridge and controlled well by Salah, who fakes to shoot before blasting past Selyukov. All four of Liverpool's star attackers have goals to their name this evening.

GOAL! Liverpool 7-0 Spartak Moscow (Salah)

Daniel Sturridge somehow fails to make it 7-0, his effort from Alexander-Arnold's delivery ballooning over from two yards.

Real Madrid are now 3-2 up against Borussia Dortmund courtesy of Lucas Vazques, who headed Theo Hernandez's cross past Burki.

Liverpool almost gifted a seventh, but Salah is adjudged offside. Major let-off for Spartak.

Mane starts the move, robbing Pasalic before offloading to Salah, who finds Sturridge. The substitute's pullback is slightly behind Mane, who just about manages to guide the ball home.

GOAL! Liverpool 6-0 Spartak Moscow (Mane)

Spartak's rare foray forward ends with a very decent effort from Promes, who bends the ball just past Karius' post.

The Dutchman has now been substituted, with Samedov taking his place.

The man with the goal of the night, cuddling the hat-trick hero.

Final change for Liverpool this evening - Roberto Firmino, scorer of the third, receives a standing ovation as he makes way for Daniel Sturridge.

Liverpool have certainly taken their foot off the gas now. The game is already more than won, no need to overly exert themselves with the Merseyside derby looming.

Spartak - who have the Moscow derby coming up themselves - seem to be following suit.

Monaco have pulled goal back against Porto; Glik with it. 3-1 to the Liga NOS leaders.

Salah almost makes it six with a placed effort but it's well saved by Selyukov.

Milner's presence has provided Liverpool with added impetus down the left channel.

The utility man surges into a dangerous area once again, looking for Coutinho, but his cross is blocked.

Spartak make a change with Dzhikiya replaced by Pasalic, while Klopp withdraws Lovren for Alexander-Arnold.

GOAL! Liverpool 5-0 Spartak Moscow (Coutinho)

Milner involved again, this time finding Coutinho with a low pass. The Brazilian's effort takes a wicked deflection past Selyukov and finds its way into the back of the net. A hat-trick for Coutinho, delirium for the Reds.

Spartak look for an instant reply through Promes, who stings the palms of Karius with a well-struck effort.

Coutinho drives from deep and finds Milner on the wing. He crosses exquisitely for Mane, whose stunning volley almost tears the net in two. Phenomenal from Mane, who worked his body ever so well to connect with Milner's ball.

4-0. If the game wasn't over already...

GOAL! Liverpool 4-0 Spartak Moscow (Mane)

Salah gets the second half underway.

Not too shabby.

Liverpool's stand-in captain has certainly led by example this evening.

Half-time: Liverpool 3-0 Spartak Moscow

The Reds are in cruise control and could be further in front in truth. Coutinho's brace and Firmino's smart finish put paid to some shoddy Spartak defending, though Klopp will be wary of momentous second-half comeback...

Porto 3-0 up against Monaco now, Brahimi makes the game safe.

Moreno tried to soldier on but is back on the turf. Milner set to come on in place of the Spaniard.

Borussia Dortmund have pulled a goal back at the Bernabeu. Aubameyang halves the deficit after Varane was substituted due to injury.

Liverpool's goal leads a charred life as Klavan has to block from Mendes. Spartak try to fashion another opportunity but Can gets back to cover.

Moreno now down in some pain after stretching to clear. The Spaniard's race may well be run.

Salah holds of Bocchetti and works space for a shot, which curls just wide of the right post. The Egyptian's been lively, and you'd back him to score given the state of Spartak's defence.

Porto now 2-0 up against Monaco. Vincent Aboubakar with them both.

Promes picks up on a ricochet off Mane, but his shot is gobbled up by Karius.

Mane then tries his luck at the other end as Salah's backheel plays him in but the Senegalese flyer finishes woefully for a man of his calibre.

GOAL! Shakthar Donetsk 2-0 Manchester City (Ismaily)

Oh dear. City's streak seriously under threat.

In the other game in City's group Feyenoord have drawn level with Napoli. Jorgensen with a fine header to make things level.

Spartak come forward with Promes, whose shot goes for a corner, aka Liverpool's kryptonite.

Promes takes, but Glushakov's deflected effort is meat and drink for Karius.

GOAL! Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 Manchester City (Bernard)

Will City's winning run come to an end tonight?

Salah darts across the face of goal and tees up Coutinho, but the Brazilian takes too long and is dispossessed by Adriano. The temporary captain is now hobbling.

Mane, who has caused so many problems already, almost created a fourth for Coutinho but his pass is cut out in the nick of time.

Klopp may think about resting some of his stars if the score remains the same. The Merseyside derby awaits...

Mane gets the ball on the halfwya line and surges forward in search of Salah. The Egyptian is denied, but the meek interception only allowed Firmino to pounce. What a fantastic finish from the Brazilian to make the game safe.

GOAL! Liverpool 3-0 Spartak Moscow (Firmino)

They're running riot.

Porto are a goal to the good against Monaco, while Besiktas have taken the lead away at RB Leipzig.

Real Madrid have also taken the lead against Borussia Dortmund - Borja Mayoral and Cristiano Ronaldo (who else) have handed Los Blancos a two-goal cushion.

GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Spartak Moscow (Coutinho)

Sumptuous from the Reds.

Mane surges forward and find Salah, whose first-time pass fins Firmino, whose first-time pass finds Coutinho, whose first-time shot finds the back of the net.

Wonderful from Liverpool, abhorrent from Spartak.

This man has sent Liverpool on their way.

Karius called into action from Adriano, whose deflected effort goes through Lovren's legs and is saved by the German. Bit too easy for the Brazilian to get his shot off there.

Coutinho whips in a teasing ball that Lovren attempts to get on the end of, but the Croatian has been called back for a push.

Wow, a twist. Maribor are a goal up against Sevilla. The Slovenian whipping boys are rooted to the bottom but could have a strong influence on the remainder of the group stage.

Napoli have taken the lead away at Feyenoord - Zielinski with the early opener.

Liverpool roam dangerously for a second as Salah and Firmino combine, but the latter cannot find Mane.

The Reds try to win possession back immediately, but Can's tackle is deemed a foul and the German is shown a yellow card. Can will miss Liverpool's first match in the last 16, providing they get there.

GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Spartak Moscow (Coutinho, pen)

No mistake from the Brazilian, who stutters his run up before sending the goalkeeper the wrong way. A lovely, early settler for Liverpool.

Salah has been hauled down in the area by Dzhikhia. Stupid, stupid challenge, unneeded and rather costly.

Coutinho will take...

PENALTY TO LIVERPOOL!

Underway at Anfield and a huge roars bellows from all corners of the crowd as Spartak get things going.

Seconds away from kick-off now. A final reminder of the starting line-ups:

Liverpool: Karius, Gomez, Klavan, Lovren, Moreno, Can, Wijnaldum, Coutinho, Mane, Salah, Firmino.

Spartak Moscow: Selikhov, Eschenko, Bocchetti, Tasci, Dzhikiya, Zobnin, Fernando, Glushakov, Promes, Ze Luis, Luis Adriano.

Just five minutes until kick-off at Anfield. The teams are in the tunnel, set to emerge out onto the turf...

Suggestions brewing that Phil Foden will operate at left-back for Manchester City against Shakhtar.

As if making your full debut in Ukraine on a potentially historic night for your boyhood club isn't daunting enough...

The Reds look well.

Less than half an hour remaining until kick-off at Anfield.

A reminder of the teams:

Liverpool: Karius, Gomez, Klavan, Lovren, Moreno, Can, Wijnaldum, Coutinho, Mane, Salah, Firmino.

Spartak Moscow: Selikhov, Eschenko, Bocchetti, Tasci, Dzhikiya, Zobnin, Fernando, Glushakov, Promes, Ze Luis, Luis Adriano.

This superimposing famous player's heads onto other people for the purpose of social media #banter has certainly died a death. Would love to know if they sought permission to use It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's footage, too.

City will be the first English club in history to win all of their Champions League group stage matches if they emerge victorious at the Metalist Stadium.

The dynamic duo were on the scoresheet during Liverpool's 3-3 draw with Sevilla. Same again tonight?

More photos of the visitors arriving at Anfield.

Impressive stuff from Liverpool, but 25 goals in six games from PSG, who admittedly did have Anderlecht and Celtic in their group. Whipping boys.

A big night for young Phil Foden, who starts for Manchester City in the Champions League. Kharkiv not the most welcoming place to make your full European debut, one would suspect...

Klopp's also discussed his decision to drop Milner and Henderson to the bench for what is a crucial match for his side.

"I have a lot of difficult decisions – good decisions to make in the moment – so this is the line-up for tonight and that's all.

"Hendo and Millie played in these positions at Brighton. It is quite intense in these positions, so that's why I decided to do this."

Klopp's provided reasoning for his five changes:

"I thought the best way not to lose is to win the game. Like always, we will need perfect organisation and we show our respect for the opponent with our attitude in the game.

"No line-up gives you the guarantee for a win, we always work with probabilities and stuff like this.

"It's a completely different game [to the one in Russia], they have a different side with three or four important players back in the squad. There is no difference in our approach because you cannot draw with the intention to draw for 90 minutes, that does not work.

"We have to work, be well organised and play football. It is our home game and we are a strong side, so we should show that – we should show what we are fighting for."

Philippe Coutinho will captain Liverpool this evening as Jordan Henderson lies in wait on the bench.

A ploy to demonstrate his importance to the Reds and perhaps sway him away from Barcelona? We can only speculate, but Klopp is paying not attention to rumours.

"Named a price [for Coutinho]? Interesting," Klopp said laughing, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo. "There is absolutely nothing to say about this. Of course Phil is still essential for us. Should we stop thinking about him in the moment just because there are more stories about him in the newspapers in Spain?"

No Silva or De Bruyne for Man City. The latter is serving a one-match suspension, but the former could miss the Manchester derby, says his manager.

"David Silva has a little problem – I don't know whether he will recover for Sunday," Guardiola said. "He felt uncomfortable after his goal [against West Ham]. He felt something. Hopefully he can play on Sunday."

Kevin de Bruyne is another who has not made the journey to Ukraine with the Belgium international set to serve a one-match suspension after picking up three yellow cards in the group phase of the competition. Bernardo Silva is set to start in his place.

TEAM NEWS

Shakhtar Donetsk go full strength as they bid to reach the last 16.

Manchester City, who can rest easy knowing that they have already qualified for the last 16 as group winners, are also in action against Shakhtar Donetsk this evening.

Manchester City: Ederson, Danilo, Mangala, Adarabioyo, Fernandinho (c), Foden, Yaya Toure, Gundogan, Bernardo, Sane, G Jesus.

TEAM NEWS

Spartak Moscow: Selikhov, Eschenko, Bocchetti, Tasci, Dzhikiya, Zobnin, Fernando, Glushakov, Promes, Ze Luis, Luis Adriano.

TEAM NEWS

So Jurgen Klopp makes five changes to the side that destroyed Brighton on the weekend. Mignolet, Henderson, Robertson, Milner and Alexander-Arnold have been dropped in place of Karius, Moreno, Klavan, Gomez and Mane.

TEAM NEWS

Liverpool substitutes: Mignolet, Alexander-Arnold, Milner, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Solanke, Sturridge.

TEAM NEWS

Liverpool: Karius, Gomez, Klavan, Lovren, Moreno, Can, Wijnaldum, Coutinho, Mane, Salah, Firmino.

TEAM NEWS

Liverpool face a huge game immediately after tonight's match against Spartak, with arch-rivals Everton preparing for the short trip to Anfield on Sunday.

Sam Allardyce has left the bulk of his kept the bulk of his first-team at Finch Farm, giving little credence to Everton's Europa League dead rubber against Apollon Limassol, but Jurgen Klopp cannot afford that luxury.

"Winning a game is always good for each team, losing a game is always bad," he said, according to the Liverpool Echo. "We have enough time and we will be prepared for that game [Everton].

"We want to go through so we will not hesitate to line up our best team. So far when we changed it was always about bringing in the players to win the game. Thankfully it worked and that's what we will do again."

Spartak Moscow's stars have been out, surveying the pitch they will look to emerge victorious on come the final whistle.

Anfield is the setting for the Reds' key Champions League clash. Will they be able to enjoy home comforts this evening?

After operating with a backline that included Emre Can and Georginio Wijnaldum against Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday (2 December), Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will be encouraged by the returns of defensive pair Ragnar Klavan and Joe Gomez, with both returning to full training on Monday.

"Yes, it looks like it [Gomez and Klavan will be ready]. They were in training yesterday and did the full stuff and that was good. We didn't do a lot, it was a bridge day, but what we did they could do. They looked both really well," Klopp said ahead of the game against the Russian club, as quoted on Liverpool's official site.

Good evening and welcome to IB Times UK's live coverage of Liverpool vs Spartak Moscow.

Despite inexplicably throwing away a three-goal lead against Sevilla in the last round of the Champions League group stage, Liverpool still sit top of Group E with their fate firmly in their own hands.

Jurgen Klopp's men need to avoid defeat against Spartak, who held the Reds to a 1-1 draw earlier in the competition, in order to ensure their place in the last-16 of the Europe's premier club competition, while Massimo Carerra's side must win at Anfield as they strive to keep their Champions League quest alive.

Stick with IB Times UK for the latest team news, updates and reaction to all the goings on at Anfield.