Liverpool have gone into this weekend’s Premier League fixtures five points clear at the top of the table, and they could soon unleash one potentially huge advantage in the title race.
The Reds have been in imperious form in recent weeks, winning their last four top-flight games by a combined score of 14-3, and victory at Arsenal tomorrow could give the Gunners too big a mountain to climb to haul back Jurgen Klopp’s side.
It’s all the more remarkable that their recent victories have been achieved without injured top scorer Mo Salah, whose return will make LFC an even more formidable force, and there’s yet another factor which could offer a pivotal advantage.
According to the Daily Mail, Liverpool are hopeful of opening the expanded Anfield Road Stand to its full capacity by the end of February, which’d then allow 61,000 fans to attend matches at the venue.
That’ll enable more supporters to obtain all-important match tickets through livefootballtickets.com and see their heroes in action firsthand.
Anfield has hosted two matches since Klopp announced that he’d be leaving the club at the end of this season, and those games against Norwich and Chelsea both took place amid a celebratory atmosphere as home fans laid bare their adoration for the 56-year-old.
If the stadium is open to a 61,000 capacity by the end of this month, the first Premier League fixture with that number in attendance may well be the visit of Manchester City on the weekend of 9/10 March.
What an occasion that could be if the Anfield Road Stand is fully opened by then, potentially amplified even further by Liverpool’s title challenge and the determination to make every remaining home game with Klopp one to remember.
The likes of City and Arsenal also boast excellent home records, but the Reds are on another level in that regard.
Aside from a freak six-game losing run in the early weeks of 2021 during the behind-closed-doors period of the global pandemic, LFC have lost just once at Anfield in front of their fans in the top flight since April 2017.
Just think of how big a motivation it’ll be for Klopp’s players when they step out in front of more than 60,000 people, the vast majority of whom will create a carnival atmosphere in what could be the most special of seasons.
It might be the intangible X-factor to propel Liverpool’s title challenge and give the German the perfect send-off in May.