Liverpool face playing Merseyside derby against Everton without full stadium as Anfield woes continue

Liverpool are faced with the prospect of playing the Merseyside derby against Everton without a full stadium as their Anfield woes continue.

Heading into the 23/24 season, Liverpool were hoping improvements on the Anfield Road stand would be completed by the time they hosted Bournemouth last weekend.

However, the project has been hampered by delays since work started in September 2021, and last week, it was reported that the contractor Buckingham Group has filed a notice to appoint administrators.

Workers were seen walking off the site at Anfield as work came to a complete halt.

Previously, Liverpool had scheduled the upper tier of the newly improved Anfield Road stand to open by October.

But that plan is now in doubt as club CEO Billy Hogan recently admitted the re-opening date is ‘uncertain’.

This means that Liverpool could be forced to play their fierce local derby against Everton on October 21 with a much-reduced capacity.

At the moment, matches against Aston Villa and West Ham at Anfield are set to be played in front of 50,000 fans.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Hogan said: “We're in a bit of a holding pattern right now based on the news we got. That needs to reach its conclusion before we can truly start to take the next steps. It's important that we don't want to set any false expectations.

Getty

“We are in a bit of a holding pattern right now based on the news that we got on Thursday and that needs to reach its conclusion before we can truly start to take the next steps. But if Buckingham does enter into administration then we’ll need to address any delays that may arise from completing the new stand as a result of that.”

He added: “Obviously we talked about having the stand fully open in October, clearly we have discussed the uncertainty that this announcement creates.

“We are still aiming for October but what we’re working through now is to put a plan in place. I know this is incredibly disappointing and frustrating.”