Liverpool have requested to play the first game of the 2023-24 English Premier League season away from home due to redevelopment work being carried out at Anfield.

Building work has been ongoing to extend the Anfield Road stand at the stadium since 2021, with the development set to increase the stadium’s seating capacity by 7,000. Overall, Anfield’s capacity will swell to 61,000 and become the fourth largest in the Premier League.

The club have announced that, due to work on the stand scheduled to continue until the end of July, Liverpool have requested that their first game of next season be played away, noting that a similar request was previously granted by the Premier League when the Main Stand was being worked on.

Development of the Anfield Road stand will bring to an end over nine years of building work at Liverpool’s famous old stadium, which originally belonged to Everton when it opened in 1884. The redevelopment of the Main Stand began in 2014 and opened at the start of the 2016-17 season.

Speaking to the club’s website, vice-president of stadium operations Paul Cuttill explained the logistical challenges of continuing to play games at Anfield while the stadium was a ‘building site’.

“From September 2021 until the last game of this season we will have held 50 men’s games, one women’s game, three LFC Foundation legends matches and three concerts, all in the middle of a working building site,” he said.

“It’s taken a lot of hard work and has been logistically challenging, but we have managed to keep capacity, so fans haven’t lost seats during the build. We are on track to be ready for the 2023-24 season and looking forward to 7,000 more fans being able to experience this incredible stadium.”