Liverpool request away match opener next season as Anfield Road stand faces redevelopments

The Merseyside club have made the request as they look to complete building work on the Anfield Road stand.

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Work began on the stand in September 2021 and the Premier League side are nearing completion but need more time before next season starts.

Liverpool have spent close to £80million on the development, which will include 7,000 extra seats at Anfield.

That will take the complete capacity of the stadium to over 61,000, more than Manchester City's Etihad Stadium and Arsenal's Emirates Stadiums but less than the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and West Ham's London Stadium.

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The work is scheduled to be completed this summer but not in time before the new season begins, with test events set to go ahead.

Additional work will need to be carried out, as well, including the roof of the existing stand being taken off at the end of the season.

Liverpool have requested more time, as a result, to get everything in order and have asked to play away from home on the first weekend of the 2023/24 campaign to give them an extra week.

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"We are on track and on budget," vice-president of stadium operations Paul Cuttill said.

"The progress has gone really well and we're due to complete by the end of July, with a view to being ready for the first home game of the 2023/24 season.

"It's not been confirmed yet but we've asked for the first game to be away, which will mean the first home game is August 19 or 20.

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"It just means we have the best possible chance to make sure the stadium is ready, that we have had test events which are licensed and good to go.

"There is an element of pitch work, to make sure it has recovered from the roof being removed and the work which takes place on the pitch during the close season."

Liverpool made a similar development in 2016 when they completed the new Main Stand.

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When carrying out the work seven years ago, the club followed the same policy by erecting the new building behind the existing one, so the capacity of the ground was not disturbed by the footballing season.