With three Premier League games left to go, Liverpool's hopes of a place in next season's Champions League remain intact.
Now just a point behind Manchester United, the Reds will head to Leicester City on Monday night knowing how both the Red Devils and Newcastle United have fared in their own respective fixtures with Wolves and Leeds over the weekend.
It's been a difficult campaign for Jurgen Klopp but the final weeks have at least given supporters something to remain invested in. Here is all the latest off-diary Reds news as Paul Gorst brings you the titbits from his Liverpool Notebook.
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Anfield Road excitement
The sense of excitement and pride among Liverpool's staff ahead of the completion of the Anfield Road expansion was tangible last week.
The ECHO was on site last week alongside a handful of other media outlets to be given a guided tour of the new stand ahead of the stadium eventually opening its doors to a further 7000 supporters in mid-August.
Liverpool have asked to play the first game of the new season away from Anfield to just to give themselves an extra few days of breathing room with regards to finishing the project but those at the club are insisting it remains on track and within its £80m budget.
Around 500 jobs will be created as a result of the development and the progress has been noticeable across the course of this season for anyone regularly walking across Stanley Park on match-days. The arrival of big music acts from around the world from the summer of 2024 onwards is also something that is being eagerly anticipated.
Liverpool's 63-game campaign last term made significant progress difficult given 30 of those were at Anfield but international breaks and the mid-season World Cup have allowed the club and contractors Buckingham Group to make real in-roads during those periods.
From Jurgen Klopp literally putting the first spade in the ground to begin the work in late September 2021, the Anfield Road expansion project is now entering its final weeks before Liverpool play host to their biggest crowds of the Premier League era.
Jorg Schmadtke close
The name Jorg Schmadtke is likely one that not too many Liverpool supporters will have been familiar with prior to last week. However, news that the German is close to becoming the club's new sporting director has no doubt led to scores of online fans frantically researching the former Wolsfburg chief.
Schmadtke has established himself - to quote one German football podcast this week - as the "grumpy man" of the game in that part of the world but there is also suggestions that the gruff, no-nonsense image has been carefully cultivated in an effort to warn off interest in both him and his working methods from those in the media.
It will be interesting, then, to see how that trademark style clashes with the profile of Liverpool FC, where the interest is always intense. Perhaps even more so now given the need to ensure recruitment is as flawless as possible this summer.
The anticipated appointment of Schmadtke represents a departure in terms of the personality of Liverpool's two previous incumbents, given Michael Edwards and Julian Ward were low-profile characters who shunned the spotlight and have never given interviews.
In contrast, Schmadtke has developed a reputation as an argumentative sort of sporting director. His tenure could be box office at Anfield.
Mac Allister interest
The news of Liverpool's interest in Brighton midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has gathered pace in the last week or so.
The Argentina international has been on the Reds' shortlist for some time alongside several others as the club have continued to assess and monitor targets ahead of formalised a plan of action with regards to their summer business.
Conor Gallagher and Mason Mount of Chelsea are two others who have been assessed alongside Wolves' Portugal international Matheus Nunes. Moises Caicedo is another who has been linked, while speculation in Portugal has seen the Reds named as suitors for Benfica's Florentino Luis and Manuel Ugarte of Sporting.
Jurgen Klopp used the first week of the international break in March to step up plans for the summer and it is perhaps here where it was decided that a blockbuster, club-record move for Jude Bellingham was no longer feasible given the need for more than just one player in the centre of the park and the budget that might be available.
It was also possibly acknowledged that a place in the Champions League was unlikely at that point but an eight-game unbeaten run that has included six successive victories has propelled them into a position where they can still nudge into a top-four place at the 11th hour.
Mac Allister has been placed towards the top of a shortlist that is longer than it normally would be at this stage of the season but Liverpool have privately indicated that they are expecting competition for the World Cup winner, while Brighton are unwilling to lose him easily.
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