Unlike the reverse fixture in Slovenia Maribor had a clear game plan to make life as difficult as possible for the hosts and for the first half they had succeeded by limiting Liverpool to only a few noteworthy chances.
The breakthrough came four minutes after the break when Mohamed Salah opened the scoring after Trent Alexander Arnold had supplied a wonderful cross in leaving Salah to show a good touch and finish at the near post to send the Kop End into a mixture of celebration and relief.
Liverpool were awarded a penalty on 53 minutes when Roberto Firmino was hauled down but James Milner was unable to do the duties as Jasmin Handanovic produced a brilliant save onto the post. It looked like it may be one of those night again for the Reds after Salah missed a glorious opportunity just a couple of minutes after the penalty save when he somehow managed to head over from four yards out.
Liverpool eventually got their second goal on 64 minutes when Emre Can exchanged passes with James Milner and Can drilled a low finish into the net from the edge of the box. Two became three in stoppage time when substitute Daniel Sturridge showed good skill to control a cross at the back post and hammered home to wrap up the points.
It took a while for Liverpool to get going and it was always going to be a more difficult encounter than the previous meeting but Liverpool can be satisfied with a win and a clean sheet as they end the evening sitting on top of their group.
