Porto out to ‘defend history’ against Liverpool, says Sergio Conceicao

The Reds took a 5-0 lead from the first leg into Tuesday’s clash with Porto, so it was never likely to be an evening of any great tension.

Can has been heavily linked with a move way from Liverpool at the end of the season, with his contract due to expire on June 30.

The last Liverpool have failed to score inside Anfield was a year ago December, when they drew the game 0-0 to West Brom. To have achieved three Champions League titles is awesome. They are placed third in the league table, and it appears that Klopp has secured Champions League football for yet another season.

“I have not thought a second about the line-up against Porto, but they have won all their games since we played them”.

Fortunately for the German, the Portuguese side’s attack were not at the races on Tuesday night with Porto mustering just one shot on target in the match (excluding blocked shots).

Porto hardly threatened Loris Karius’s goal the rest of the way, while Liverpool saw out the tie, and the Reds, who had Salah come on in the 74th minute, almost struck in the dying stages, when Danny Ings forced Casillas into a hard, acrobatic save on his 88th minute leaping header.

The reds gung-ho style may ultimately prevent further advancement, but it could also be just the kind of madness that sees Liverpool recreate the unexpected 2005 Champions League win.

A draw is available at 7/2 odds at Betfair, and an away win can get you 6/1 odds at Bet365.

For the visitors, Vincent Aboubakar is available at 13/5 odds at BetVictor.

Jesus Corona nearly snatched a late victor for the Dragons when he cut inside from the left and fizzed a shot just wide of the near post 10 minutes from time.

Klopp insisted in the aftermath that he was indifferent to whether Liverpool were drawn against a fellow Premier League side in the draw on 16 March, preferring instead to simply revel in the Merseysiders reaching the last-eight stage for the first time since 2009.

Klopp made five changes for the match but played two of his front three in Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane for 62 and 74 minutes respectively while 32-goal forward Mohamed Salah was sent on for the last 20 minutes.

Porto have now been unable to win in 18 visits to England, losing 16 times in total.