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FT: That brings an end to our coverage of this Europa League encounter this evening. I have been Conor de Smith and thank you for staying with us throughout the match. Amee Ruszaki's match report is now live on the site. Goodnight all!

FT: Christian Benteke, Jordon Ibe and Joe Allen caught the eye tonight. The former was involved in almost all of Liverpool's attacks, Ibe was direct and troubled the defenders while Allen played superbly in midfield.

FT: Benteke: "I try to do my job when the coach needs me. I came here to fight for every game"

FT: Christian Benteke celebrates his goal.

FT: Rubin Kazan defeated Sion in the other Group B encounter, ensuring both sides have something to play for on matchday six. This defeat puts Bordeaux out of the competition.

FT: Liverpool 2-1 Bordeaux. Goals from James Milner and Christian Benteke see Liverpool come from behind to secure qualification to the knock-out stages, joining Spurs in the Round of 32. Henri Saivet opened the scoring for the visitors.

90' Divock Origi comes on for Jordon Ibe.

90' There will be five minutes stoppage time at the end of the second half.

90' Dejan Lovren concedes a free-kick in a dangerous position. Henri Saivet's effort is well saved by the goalkeeper.

88' Diego Contento the fifth to be booked by the official, who is now regularly giving free-kicks.

86' Christian Benteke finally shown a yellow card.

85' Adam Ounas comes on for Jaroslav Plasil.

84' A lofted ball from Germain right-back Diego Contento finds substitute Nicolas Maurice-Belay, who dinks the ball over his marker before sending his shot well over the bar. Kolo Toure put the Frenchman under pressure but it was still a chance for the away side.

79' Henri Saivet has impressed tonight, getting the visitors out of trouble on a number of occasions whilst scoring their only goal thus far. The Senegalese has scored three important goals already this season, once here, once in the draw to PSG and one in the draw with Saint-Etienne.

76' Jussie, goalscorer in the reverse fixture, comes off for Nicolas Maurice-Belay.

75' Benteke have had numerous chances to double Liverpool's advantage in the second half, a corner narrowly evades the returning striker.

74' Roberto Firmino makes way for Adam Lallana. The former has had a disappointing night.

70' Despite not creating too many clear goalscoring opportunities and a few nervy moments from their makeshift defense, Willy Sagnol will take a lot of positives from tonight's clash.

67' First substitution of this encounter is made by the away side, Enzo Crivelli is replaced by Cheick Diabate. This is closely followed by Joe Allen's departure, Emre Can takes his place. Decent games from Allen.

65' Alberto Moreno is down after sustaining a knock to his back, looks in a lot of pain but should continue.

Henri Saivet of Bordeaux celebrates the opening goal.

61' Another yellow card is drawn by the Israeli referee, Ibe punished for kicking the ball away.

60' Lucas picks up just the second booking of the night due to a foul on Plasil.

57' FCGB convinced that Benteke was subject to a handball in the box but these appeals were rightly waved away from Alon Yefet, the 24-year-old's hands were too close to his chest.

56' Les Girondins' defence being truly tested after the interval! This time Jordon Ibe troubles Ludovic Sane with his pace but was unable to beat the former Crystal Palace shotstopper from a tight angle.

53' Yet another goal has been dissalowed! This time Benteke does put it behind Carasso but the forward was adjudged to have fouled Sane. Joe Allen then tests the goalkeeper from long range. Bordeaux lucky there.

50' Christian Benteke is given a chance to double his goal tally after some great build-up play. Good work from Joe Allen just inside the box resulted in a through ball towards Roberto Firmino, who cut the ball back to his Belgian counterpart. The final shot goes high and wide.

46' Bordeaux kick-off the second half, with Liverpool kicking from left to right. Will we see Liverpool secure the victory or a Bordeaux comeback?

HT: According to UEFA, both sides have scored with their only shots on target. Liverpool have had four overall and attained 59 per cent of possession, with 204 completed passes.

James Milner celebrates the equalizer with Alberto Moreno and Jordon Ibe.

HT: That goals concludes the first-half here on Merseyside. Two late goals from Liverpool see Jurgen Klopp's men enter the interval in front. Henri Saivet opened the scoring for the visitors with a fabulous finish before a Milner penalty and a Benteke strike kept their team on course for qualification.

45' GOAL LIVERPOOL! The hosts take the lead just before the break as Christian Benteke takes Clyne's cross down beautifully before viciously striking the ball past the goalkeeper. 2-1.

45' Alberto Moreno shows some sumptous skill to beat Andre Poko just before the break, cutting inside superbly.

44' Games has quietened since the two goals, with the duo seemingly looking to get in the changing rooms level at half-time. Entertaining first 45 minutes thus far.

38' GOAL LIVERPOOL! James Milner steps up and slots the ball past Carasso. The goalkeeper, who marvously saved Sio's penalty against Rennes to scure a point at the weekend, was sent the wrong way on this occassion. All level now!

37' PENALTY TO LIVERPOOL! We said the battle between Sane and Benteke would be intresting, and the former brings down the latter in the box!

Sane and Benteke battle it out.

33' GOAL FOR BORDEAUX! The visitors take the lead from the resulting free-kick, their first goal on English soil. Jaroslav Plasil's lay-off sets up Henri Saivet, who unleashes an ineffable strike into the top corner.

32' Sensational from the the official, who has penalised Mignolet for holding onto the ball for too long. Rare occurrence here at Anfield.

30' The Belgian striker fouls Ludovic Sane once again, this time requiring a talking to from Alon Yefet.

29' Liverpool have the ball in the back of net after another direct run from Jordon Ibe but Christian Benteke's cool finish is rightly ruled out for offside.

27' Kolo Toure obtains the ball near the penalty area and is urged to shoot by sections of the crowd. He did exactly that and subsequently sent the ball wall wide.

James Milner takes on Andre Poko.

25' An outstanding cross from Jordon Ibe narrowly avoides Christian Benteke and then James Milner at the far post.

22' Stunning chest control from Christian Benteke within the penalty area provides the Belgian with an opportunity but his volley is fired just wide of Carasso's post.

20' Joe Allen fouls Enzo Crivelli on the periphery of the penalty area. Liverpool are letting Bordeaux into the game slightly more now. The free-kick is struck straight into the wall, however.

14' A foul on Henri Saivet sees a large stoppage in play. Christian Benteke needs to be careful.

13' Simon Mignolet almost gifted Clement Chantome with a chance to open the scoring after a poor clearance. Lucas then opted to nutmeg Rolan in the penalty area. Liverpool momentarily putting themselves under pressure there.

12' Willy Sagnol's side look to be reverting to a more defensive 4-5-1 formation when the hosts aquire the ball.

10' Liverpool showing great intent from the offset tonight, seemingly inspired to secure qualification to the knock-out stages of this season's Europa League. Bursting forward with every opportunity.

8' Cedric Carasso had to be on his toes as the 33-year-old collected the ball just in front of Benteke. A fantastic ball from Lucas found Firmino in a similar area to his previous chance but he failed to control the ball once more.

5' First chance of the evening falls to Roberto Firmino! A large kick from Simon Mignolet following a Liverpool corner found the Brazilian on the corner of the penalty area but the former Hoffenheim mistimed his volley.

2' Foul on Ludovic Sane by Christian Benteke. Could be an interesting battle between the two tonight.

1' Liverpool get us underway here at Anfield! The hosts are donning their all red strip while their opposition contrast with a white kit. Bordeaux will be kicking towards the Kop during the first-half.

The players are in the tunnel, lead by captains James Milner and Ludovic Sane. Which player will be on the winning side tonight? We are about to find out!

Bordeaux players training before kick-off.

Team news suggest that Daniel Sturridge will not be representing Liverpool tonight, reportingly sustaining another injury. Skertl, who was a doubt with illness, remains on the bench. It looks like a 4-3-3 formation from the home side, with their opponents lining-up in a 4-4-2.

We are now just moments away from kick-off! What do you think the scoreline will be? Make sure to Tweet VAVEL Liverpool with your prediction.

Bordeaux staring XI to face Liverpool: Carasso; Poko, Sane, Yambere, Contento; Plasil, Chantome, Saivet; Rolan, Crivelli, Jussie.

Liverpool starting XI to face Bordeaux: Mignolet; Clyne, Toure, Lovren, Moreno; Lucas, Allen; Milner, Ibe, Firmino; Benteke

Dejan Lovren, who spent three years in France, joined his boss at Melwood and was quick to praise Brendan Rodger’s predecessor. The Croat explained that “It is a great pleasure to play under Jurgen” before proclaiming that they “have started to believe” in themselves since his arrival. On the subject on tonight’s encounter, set to kick-off at 20:05, he said “Bordeaux are a quality, quality team in the French league” and that his team-mates “expect a hard game”.

Jurgen Klopp confirmed in his pre-match press conference yesterday that Martin Skrtel is a doubt for Thursday due to illness but could welcome back Daniel Sturridge for the first time since October 4 after the forward sustained a knee injury, with his manager stating the 26-year-old is “getting closer”. The England international is likely to be involved in some capacity this evening.

FCGB made the 1,000km trip to Merseyside yesterday and trained at Anfield last night. Wahbi Khazri remains suspended following his sending off against Sion, a huge loss for the away side with the Tunisian contributing to just under half of the club’s league goals this term with four goals and five assists. Nicolas Pallois, Thomas Toure, Pablo and Gregory Sertic are all sidelined through injury but Uruguay international Diego Rolan is likely to return to the fold.

Cedric Carasso is the only Bordeaux player with experience in English football. The goalkeeper had a stint with Crystal Palace, making his debut against Birmingham City in 2002. Mamadou Sakho, Divock Origi and Dejan Lovren all have Ligue 1 experience.

Alon Yefet will be officiating the clash and will be joined by assistants Oren Borneshtain and Nissan Davidy. The Israeli became a referee in 2001 and has since become one of the leading officials in his native country, attaining the right to referee matches in both the Champions League and Europa League. The 41-year-old was the man in the middle during Saint-Etienne’s win at Dnipro and Wolfsburg’s 2-0 victory over Sporting Lisbon, showing six yellow cards and one red card in November so far.

Willy Sagnol’s side have endured a difficult start to this term, failing to break into the top half of the table thus far. Despite fantastic results against the likes of champions Paris Saint-Germain, second placed Lyon and Saint-Etienne, the southern outfit have dropped points to teams fighting relegation. Toulouse, Montpellier, GFC Ajaccio and Lille have all obtained a result against the 2010 Ligue 1 champions. Bordeaux were close to surrendering their 2-2 draw with Rennes at the weekend but Cedric Carasso ineffably denied Giovanni Sio from the penalty spot in the 96th minute, following a handball by Clement Chantome.

The pairings’ results are also mirrored whilst on domestic action, picking up 16 and 12 points respectively, with draws featuring heavily for both sides. Liverpool concluded a run of three successive draws with an outstanding 1-3 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, arguably bettered with a 1-4 win against title favourites Manchester City away from home. These results have deservedly lifted the five time Champions League winners to ninth in the Premier League table, six points distant from fourth placed Arsenal. Jurgen Klopp’s men could arguably push for a European place in the coming months, meeting just one of the current top five this calendar year.

Following the aforementioned draw at the Matmut Atlantique, tonight’s visitors have been less fortunate in the matches that ensured. A stalemate with Rubin Kazan was followed by a defeat and an unfortunate draw to Swiss side Sion. A Clement Chantome own goal during the dying embers of the game gifted their opponents with a vital point at the Stade de Tourbillon, leaving Bordeaux with a slim chance of qualification. Les Girondins require a win today and in a fortnight's time at home to Rubin Kazan to secure advancement.

These two sides have failed to unearth substantial form in the Europa League thus far, winning one game between them in a competitive Group B. They first met on matchday one, now over two months ago, and both recorded a point as Jussie canceled out Adam Lallana’s opener with nine minutes remaining. This was the first of three successive 1-1 draws for the Reds, dropping points at home to Sion and Rubin Kazan respectively before Jordon Ibe finally secured a victory over the latter.

Liverpool - Bordeaux Live Commentary

This fixture, that could seal the hosts’ qualification to the knock-out stages of this competition, is set to commence at 20:05 BST under Anfield’s famous floodlights. The 45,276 capacity ground has been home to Liverpool since 1892 after the club inherited the stadium from rivals Everton, hosting numerous enthralling encounters over the decades. Construction to enlarge the Main Stand is currently underway, ensuring that the full stadium capacity will be increased to 54,000 by the 2016/17 season.

Liverpool is renowned for its electric atmosphere on European nights. (ThisIsAnfield)

Hello and welcome to VAVEL’s live coverage of Bordeaux’s trip to Merseyside as the Ligue 1 outfit encounter Liverpool on matchday five of this season’s UEFA Europa League. My name is Conor de Smith and will be bringing you updates throughout the game alongside comprehensive build-up until kick-off.

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About the author
Conor de Smith
Trying to make it in journalism. Contributing to VAVEL since July 2013.