22:15. I've been Mosope Ominiyi, I hope you've enjoyed my live commentary tonight! I'll be back with more commentaries in the future, until next time, have a goodnight, and make sure to stay tuned to the latest on VAVEL - the football coverage never stops!
22:13. In the 8.05pm kick-off's: Ajax 1-0 Legia Warsaw, Anderlecht 0-0 Dinamo Moscow, Celtic 3-3 Inter Milan, Guingamp 2-1 Dynamo Kyiv, Sevilla 1-0 Borussia Monchengladbach, Tottenham 1-1 Fiorentina and Vilarreal 2-1 Salzburg.
22:12. In the 6pm kick-off's: Aab 1-3 Club Brugge, Dnipro 2-0 Olympiakos, PSV 0-1 Zenit, Roma 1-1 Feyenoord, Torino 2-2 Athletic Bilbao, Trabzonspor 0-4 Napoli, Wolfsburg 2-0 Sporting Lisbon and Young Boys 1-4 Everton.
22:11. Lastly, let's have a look at the rest of tonight's Europa League results.
22:08. My MOTM: Jordon Ibe. The youngster set tongues wagging a few weeks back for his impressive display against Everton in the Merseyside derby, and he has been even more standout tonight. He was a constant threat throughout the game, his pace and dribbling was too much for the Besiktas defenders to handle - as seen when he weaved his way past his marker and brought the foul for the penalty-kick. Very good performance once more from the startlet.
22:05. Before I go, here is my Man of the Match award from tonight's game.
22:00. The majority of headlines in tomorrow's papers will regard Balotelli's heroics once more, following his encouraging displays against Tottenham and Crystal Palace in the Premier League over the past week or so. Also, the mini argument between the Italian and Sturridge to take the penalty-kick, which was without a doubt un-needed, but showed that both players were eager to improve their goal-tally. Jordan Henderson, captain again for the night, had to step in to ensure the peace was kept between his team-mates, a quality that is encouraging seeing the fact he is the vice-captain after all.
90+3: The referee blows his whistle for full-time, and that's that! FULL-TIME SCORE: Liverpool 1-0 Besiktas. The hosts take a crucial goal advantage with them to the return leg in Turkey, courtesy of Mario Balotelli's spot-kick with just minutes to go.
90+2: Sturridge skills his way past his marker, setting Sterling through towards the area... fouled!
90: The fourth official signals for three minutes of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the second-half, with Besiktas making half-hearted penalty appeals, waved play on by the referee though.
88: Sturridge attempts to latch onto a loose ball in the Besiktas half, unable to beat the defender to the ball, as it is cleared though.
85: Balotelli cooly slots his spot-kick into the bottom corner of the net, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way in the process.
84: Henderson had the ball in his hand, Balotelli takes the ball from him, places it on the spot, and shapes to shoot. Will the Italian score? YES HE WILL! GOAL! LIVERPOOL AHEAD! BALOTELLI FROM THE SPOT!
83: PENALTY FOR LIVERPOOL! Ibe weaves his magic once again in the area, is brought down inside the box by Ramon Motta and the referee has no choice but to point to the spot. The visitors are complaining to the official on the byline, but he has ushered them away behind the penalty spot, where Sturridge and Balotelli are both wanting to take the spot-kick.
81: COUNTER ATTACK! Sterling darts past his marker, sprints through midfield and looks up to find Sturridge on his right, passes to him, he shapes to shoot, but delays the effort and instead of passing to Can or Balotelli both in space, decides to chip towards goal. Poor decision, you could see what he was trying to do.
80: Just ten minutes plus stoppages remain, will either side take the driving seat ahead of the return leg in Turkey, just three weeks' from now?
79: Balotelli with some defensive duties of his own, as he hoofs the ball clear from a danger ball towards Demba Ba.
78: The Reds making their last change of the game now, as Raheem Sterling is introduced into the fray in place of Adam Lallana, who has been dangerous in patches tonight.
77: Henderson with a free-kick delivery drilled into the box... over the bar by Lovren!
76: Serdar Kurtulus, the only "survivor" from Besiktas' 8-0 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool back in 2008, is given a yellow card for a deliberate tug on Balotelli.
72: Besiktas substitution - Olcay Sahan OFF, Kerim Frei ON.
71: Sturridge sees his deflected free-kick effort, 25 yards out fall into the hands of the goalkeeper who smothers the danger. Close.
68: *GOAL ALERT* - Sevilla 1-0 Borussia Monchengladbach, goal from Vicente Iborra.
67: Lovren goes into the referee's book for a late tackle on Olcay Sahan, who goes down in a heap on the floor. The Croatian centre-back argues it was his first offence of the night, but can have no complaints really.
64: Balotelli takes an inswinging free-kick, 25 yards out, and the goalkeeper has to remain alert to comfortably smother the effort on his line!
63: Emre Can expected to move forward into midfield, Lovren goes into his place with Allen off the pitch now. Balotelli will be hoping for another positive display off the substitutes' bench tonight, he's got thirty odd minutes to strut his stuff as it were.
62: Liverpool making a double change now - Joe Allen and Phillipe Coutinho OFF, Dejan Lovren and Mario Balotelli ON.
60: Besiktas substitution - Jose Sosa OFF, Oguzhan Osyzkup ON.
59: CLOSE! Liverpool almost break the deadlock, but alas, the score is still level at 0-0. Henderson hits a shot under pressure, low and wide after a goalmouth scramble is partially cleared out for a corner-kick.
56: Ba gets the better of Can near the box, the German brings him down but Sosa's resulting effort is poor to say the least!
48: Ibe with another display of individual skill to beat his marker on the edge of the area, before finding Henderson... the captain feeds the ball towards the back post, but Moreno's resulting half-volley is wayward and does not trouble the goalkeeper.
21:08. KICK-OFF! The second-half is underway now, 45 minutes left of action to play!
21:06. Have a read of the five-goal thriller at Celtic Park, being commentated on by Gerry Johnston here! Celtic trailing 3-2 at home against Italian side Inter Milan, half-time there.
https://www.vavel.com/en/international-football/452368-celtic-v-internazionale-live-text-commentary-and-uel-scores-2015.html?c=0
21:05. Just a few minutes away from the start of the second-half now. Before that, here are the matches being played at the moment in the other 8.05pm kick-off's: Ajax 1-0 Legia Warsaw, Anderlecht 0-0 Dinamo Moscow, Celtic 2-3 Inter Milan, Guingamp 0-1 Dynamo Kiev, Sevilla 0-0 Borussia Monchengladbach, Tottenham 1-1 Fiorentina and Villarreal 1-0 Salzburg.
21:00. Besiktas have proved they are not a side to be messed with, but are beatable. Liverpool need to provide more service to the likes of Jordon Ibe on the flank, the youngster's electric pace and dangerous runs are a constant threat to the visitors.
20:57. The Reds will be hoping to get a goal or two to their name, for all of their hard work at least. Besiktas know that only an away goal will change the whole course of the tie, and although Liverpool have improved, they still look vulnerable at the back at times and can be exploited for it.
20:55. Liverpool 0-0 Besiktas - A rather entertaining game thus far, which has intensified as the match has continued to play out. Some intricate football being played by the likes of Ibe, Lallana and Henderson for the hosts; Demba Ba arguably had the chance of the half but his side-footed effort was too close to comfort for Mignolet, to parry away to safety. Moreno created an opportunity out of literally nothing; his blistering strike was parried over the bar by the goalkeeper and it simply would have been a spectacular effort if it crashed in off the crossbar.
45+1: HALF-TIME! The referee blows his whistle to end the half's action, and it's been an intriguing 0-0 so far.
45: Henderson with the free-kick effort... CLOSE! The captain curls one over the wall, and it trickles past the post! The goalkeeper was simply rooted to the spot, and it seemed as though the hosts were inches away from taking the lead. The fourth official signals for one minute of stoppage time to be added on, meanwhile.
44: The referee brandishes a card to Gulam for his troubles also, and although he argues that he won the ball fairly, the official did not like the manner in which he tackled Moreno, as the young Spaniard easily could have been injured as a result of the tackle.
44: Free-kick, 25 yards out for Liverpool now as Gulam slides in rather dangerously on Moreno, who had over-run his dribble towards the edge of the area.
42: Henderson with an ambitious effort from the corner, over the bar though.
41: SPECTACULAR EFFORT BY MORENO! SAVE OVER THE BAR BY THE 'KEEPER! Besiktas clear the ball, partially clear as Moreno gets a hold of a stinging drive, 30 yards out which was serving into the top corner and had to be dealt with by the goalkeeper Gonen.
40: Glorious long ball towards the flank by Emre Can, finding team-mate Alberto Moreno in space with time to spare. He skills up his mark on the edge of the box, before running into trouble inside the area, where Besiktas hoof the ball clear.
39: OVER THE BAR! Sturridge's resulting effort, 25 yards out, swerves over the bar with the goalkeeper arguably having the area of his goal covered, although it must be said that it was a decent effort from the Englishman.
38: Ibe skips past two defenders with ease on the flank, before going down under the challenge from another. Free-kick, in a dangerous position for The Reds to come.
35: STAT - Ba has scored eight goals in his eight European matches this season. Can he score again tonight?
34: SAVE BY MIGNOLET! Demba Ba made the most of a counter attacking move to his advantage, beating Skrtel in a foot race to the ball, before shaping to shoot with a side-footed finish towards goal. Mignolet dives to his left, to parry away for a corner-kick.
33: Ibe dances past his marker on the flank before squaring the ball to Lallana on the edge of the area; he attempts to smack an effort towards goal but the danger is snuffed out by a good defensive block.
32: CLOSE! BESIKTAS ALMOST BREAK THE DEADLOCK! Kadlec peels away from his defensive marker inside the box, to head towards goal from the delivery, but the effort swerves just wide into the side netting, with Mignolet seeming beaten.
31: Mignolet rushes off his line to parry away a loose ball towards Demba Ba, corner again for the visitors.
26: The resulting set-piece comes of nothing, but Belgian goalkeeper Simon Mignolet barks orders at his defenders to stay visually aware - they could have easily conceded from the corner if it was of better quality.
25: Gokhan Tore drives down the flank, forcing a corner-kick under the advances of Mamadou Sakho, who slides in and ensures the winger cannot deliver a cross into the box.
21: Ibe does well to initially control the ball under pressure from another good pass into his feet from Henderson, he swings a cross into the area but no team-mate is in space in the box to latch onto it. Promising.
17: Henderson with an attempted long through ball pass across towards the path of Jordon Ibe... the youngster watches the ball on the bounce and tries to latch onto it, but it trickles past him and out for a goal-kick. Unlucky.
12: Kavlak with an ambitious effort from range, but his low drive trickles past Mignolet's post and out for a Liverpool goal-kick on the far side.
10: Drop-ball goes in Besiktas' favour, play restarts.
9: Play has been temporarily halted by the referee who rushes and picks up the ball, as a pitch invader has ran across the field of play.
7: Adam Lallana wins a free-kick in midfield after teasing his marker into making a challenge.
5: Henderson's resulting corner-kick is whipped into the box towards the path of Joe Allen - he hits the effort but it is blocked and eventually hoofed away clear.
4: Great footwork from Sturridge! He weaves past his marker with ease at the byline, before shaping to shoot - the goalkeeper has to be alert to deny the Englishman from a narrow angle.
3: Both sides trying to start the game off quickly, but Liverpool are dominating possession for the moment at least.
20:05. KICK-OFF! Jordan Henderson and Phillipe Coutinho kick-off proceedings at Anfield, the match has begun!
20:00. The players are walking down the tunnel, and onto the pitch now. Pre-match handshakes being completed as I type this, just five minutes until kick-off remain.
19:58. Anfield is currently rocking now, the chants of "You'll Never Walk Alone" reverbrates around the ground now.
19:50. Slavan Bilic: "It is one of the biggest clubs in the world, one of the most special stadiums in the world. Now, they are doing well - they had a bad patch before now, but now they've lost one in sixteen; the clear favourites but we are playing good and have a chance."
19:48. Brendan Rodgers' words before the game tonight: "We arrived into the Champions League earlier on in the season, didn't do ourselves justice. Hopefully, we can show where the team has developed in the past two, three months. It's a prestigious tournament, a big competition, and we want to do well in it."
19:25. Other EL matches at the moment; Aab 1-3 Club Brugge, Dnipro 2-0 Olympiakos, PSV 0-1 Zenit St. Petersburg, Roma 1-1 Feyenoord, Torino 2-2 Athletic Bilbao, Trabzonspor 0-3 Napoli and Wolfsburg 2-0 Sporting Lisbon.
19:20. In one of the Europa League games being played currently, Everton are winning 4-1 against Swiss side Young Boys. John Stones was just sent off for a deliberate tug on Hourau inside the area, before the striker missed a penalty! Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku has scored a hat-trick for the visitors aswell, 25 minutes left to play in that game.
19:15. Brendan Rodgers is not taking any chances with his team today! three-at-the-back formation as per usual, Henderson and Allen holding midfielders, Lallana, Coutinho and Ibe behind Sturridge in attack.
19:10. A rather strong line-up from both sides, slightly surprised not to see former Arsenal midfielder Oguzhan Ozyakup starting for the visitors, but apart from that, to be expected from Bilic's side.
BESIKTAS: Gonen, Kurtulus, Franco, Gulum, Motta, Sosa, Tore, Kavlak, Sahan, Hutchinson and Ba. Subs - Fidayeo, Pektemek, Ozyakup, Arslan, Uysal, Koyunlu and Opare.
LIVERPOOL: Mignolet, Sakho, Can, Skrtel, Moreno, Henderson, Allen, Coutinho, Lallana, Ibe and Sturridge. Subs - Ward, Lovren, Manquillo, Lambert, Sterling, Borini and Balotelli.
19:05. Just an hour away from kick-off now, that means CONFIRMED TEAM LINE-UPS!
19:00. Key man (Besiktas) - Demba Ba: The former West Ham, Newcastle and Chelsea striker has already managed to score 22 goals in his 28 appearances for the Turkish giants thus far in this campaign. Steven Gerrard's rather unfortunate slip gifted him a goal in their previous meeting last time, where he was still in Chelsea colours at the end of last season before his surprising move elsewhere in Europe. He'll be hoping to conjure up more havoc as he returns to England again tonight, provided he plays.
18:55. Key man (Liverpool) - Daniel Sturridge: Liverpool's main man has been extremely unlucky with injuries so far this season, following a rather remarkable display of goal-scoring form in the previous campaign which culminated with The Reds returning to Champions League football. As a result, he was unable to feature in ANY of their six group stage games before Christmas, and will have a point to prove as he hopes to spearhead their attack to some form of Euro glory in the rest of the 2014-15 campaign at least.
18:45. Lazar Markovic has been suspended for Liverpool's next four European games, read more for the latest on the news, as written by me below:
https://www.vavel.com/en/football/premier-league/liverpool-fc/451866-lazar-markovic-handed-four-game-european-ban.html
18:40. Confirmed team line-ups shall be official in the next 30 minutes or so, until then, read the preview - written by Charlie Malam here!
https://www.vavel.com/en/football/premier-league/liverpool-fc/452212-preview-liverpool-vs-besiktas-reds-looking-for-upper-hand-ahead-of-turkey-trip.html
18:35. Predictions ahead of the game? Liverpool will be the favourites, especially on their home turf, and as long as they play well, they should warrant an encouraging display in-front of the Kop tonight. Expect Besiktas not to be pushovers though. Tweet me with your predictions at @Football365Mo.
18:10. Brendan Rodgers' men will be hoping for a relatively comfortable game later tonight, but do not expect it to be easy for them! Besiktas provided fellow English side Arsenal with a scare, and managed to top the group with Spurs involved, so they should not be taken lightly.
18:07. Turkish side Besiktas meanwhile, were knocked out of the Champions League through the qualification rounds at the hands of FA Cup holders Arsenal. They were automatically given a spot in the group stages of the Europa League, finishing first above Tottenham, Asteras Tripoli and Partizan respectively in their group.
18:05. Liverpool had a disappointing campaign in this year's UEFA Champions League competition, finishing third in a group with Real Madrid, Ludogorets and FC Basel. As a result of their third-placed finish, they were awarded a knock-out round place in the Last 32 of the Europa League, which is traditionally seen as the second best European competition behind the Champions League itself.
18:00. Hello again everyone, and welcome to VAVEL's live commentary of tonight's UEFA Europa League Last 32 first-leg clash between Liverpool and Besiktas, at Anfield. My name is Mosope Ominiyi, and I will be covering the live action as it unfolds from Merseyside later this evening; kick-off is scheduled for a 8:05pm start so stay with me for all of the pre-match build-up until then!