Liverpool will open a new-look Anfield when they host Bournemouth in their first home game of the 2023/24 Premier League season on August 19.
The Reds learned their fate on Thursday morning when the fixtures for upcoming campaign were officially made public.
Having requested to play the first match of the new term away to allow for the final flourishes on their £80m Anfield Road development project, Jurgen Klopp's men will be entertained by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on August 13 as Mauricio Pochettino is handed a difficult assignment for his first game as Blues boss.
After that, all eyes will turn to Anfield as Liverpool unveil their new 61,000-seater stand to the public for the first time.
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The development officially started in late September 2021 when Klopp was part of a ceremonial event where the Liverpool manager was invited to literally place the first spade in the ground to formally begin the work.
The ECHO was one of a handful of media guests invited to oversee the event on the day, with Klopp claiming that he "absolutely loved the idea" of filling one of the most atmospheric stadiums on the continent with an additional 7,000 supporters.
"It will be massive," Klopp said at the time. "We can see that now with the supporters [back inside Anfield] again, everything is much better, much more emotional, much more driven. Everything's better with fans. Having 53,000 there is not bad already to be honest, it felt like 100,000 so I can't imagine how 60,000 will feel."
Klopp even tackled criticism of owners Fenway Sports Group over a perceived lack of spending in the transfer market, saying: "We have the training ground and the Main Stand and now this new [Anfield Road] stand, it is absolutely incredible. It is very important.
"I know that there are some moments where there is some criticism when we don't invest, but this club has always invested, just slightly differently. I like this idea about that and I just hope that about the building process."
The development, inevitably, has not come without its challenges. Having initially been forced to postpone the plans by 12 months at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Liverpool City Council's planning committee eventually gave the green light on the redevelopment in June of that year.
Storms Franklin and Eunice last year held up progress at times last year while Russia's invasion of Ukraine also led to some uncertainty surrounding building supplies. The ramifications of the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union caused some private apprehension too.
But since that soggy, rain-soaked afternoon outside the ground over 18 months ago, the project has gathered considerable speed, particularly in recent months. A major checkpoint was passed last week when the 282-tonne roof was removed following a week's work from as many as 75 engineers.
"We're on time and we're on budget," vice president of Stadium Operations Paul Cuttill said after the ECHO had given a guided tour of the building site last month.
The mid-season break caused by the Qatar World Cup across November and December saw plenty of progress made towards the end of last year while the month-long absence of a home game between the Manchester United and Arsenal fixtures in March and April allowed time and space for further growth. Additional work was also notable during the international breaks of last season.
The new stand, which will take Anfield's overall capacity to 61000, will create around 500 additional jobs and the club believe the expansion of their iconic stadium represents "the best of both worlds" in terms of remaining at their current base while also increasing the number of supporters who are able to attend on match days.
In 2016, following the opening of the £110m Main Stand, Anfield was paid a visit from key figures within Fenway Sports Group, including FSG president Mike Gordon, Liverpool chairman Tom Werner and principal owner John W Henry.
The group were given a tour of the new-look stadium alongside Klopp and then CEO Ian Ayre before Werner gave an on-pitch speech to the smattering of key figures and legendary names, who had been invited to the specially-organised event.
Twenty-four hours later, Liverpool beat then champions Leicester City 4-1 in front of a sold-out 54,.000 - including FSG -as Anfield played host to its biggest crowd since 1977.
The Americans' most recent visit to Merseyside was for the 9-0 hammering of Bournemouth in August of last year and with a milestone day ahead of the Reds once more when they next host the Cherries, it's likely that FSG could once more be on hand to witness the development up close.
With the prospect of a new-look Liverpool team on the pitch in front of the biggest Anfield crowd in decades on August 19, it promises to be a special day for all connected to the club.
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