On the day that Jurgen Klopp's men will kick off their new Champions League glory quest, here's your Liverpool FC morning headlines for Wednesday, September 7.
Liverpool eye £100m target to catch up with Manchester United and Tottenham
Work on the redevelopment of Liverpool's Anfield Road end has been underway for some time now. When Reds boss Jurgen Klopp put the ceremonial spade in the ground on the £80m plan on a rainy morning at Anfield in September last year it marked the beginning of another important phase for the club and owners Fenway Sports Group.
The steel framework has risen since then the project has moved on significantly - a 300 tonne roof truss lifted into place in July - with an additional 7,000 seats to be available to help service the huge demand for matchday tickets, as well as the additional revenue streams that will arrive from conference spaces and other means.
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For Liverpool, a club that places considerable importance on having a strong balance sheet to sit alongside on the pitch success, it will prove valuable in the years to come, the Anfield capacity to edge past the 60,000 mark following the Main Stand work that was completed back in 2016.
It is something that the Reds had to do to make sure that they were maximising the revenue streams that were available to them at a time when some of their rivals were moving into new state of the art stadia, such as Tottenham Hotspur's £1bn home that they took residence in back in 2019 but were unable to reap the rewards of due to the pandemic.
But according to a new report from analysts at respected football business website Off The Pitch, Spurs look set to break the £100m barrier for matchday revenues (£105.9m) alongside Manchester United (£110.7m). Those forecasts put them well ahead of Liverpool at present, with the report forecasting that the Reds will deliver £89.7m in matchday revenues when the 2021/22 accounts are revealed for the most recent financial year.
Of course, with the 2020/21 financial year taking into account a Premier League season played behind closed doors there is a major rise in matchday revenues across the 20 member clubs, with Liverpool's rising 2,391 per cent from £3.6m to £89.7m.
While commercial revenues, prize money from on-pitch success and more efficient cost management has allowed for Liverpool to reach second in the projected revenues for 2021/22, overtaking Manchester United for the first time, it is matchday revenue where they trail, and the need to expand and maximise the potential for Anfield has heightened in its importance.
Read the full story from Dave Powell, our Business of Football writer, HERE.
Liverpool youngsters handed opportunity in Napoli return after controversial past
Liverpool begin where it all ended earlier this year when they open their UEFA Youth League campaign on Wednesday afternoon. And don't be surprised if there are fireworks.
The Reds matched their best-ever performance in the competition last season when they were beaten in the quarter-finals at Juventus. Now, with their group schedule echoing that of the first team in the Champions League, Liverpool are back in Italy to take on Napoli for a third time in five years.
It’s a fixture that has assumed a certain edge. Layton Stewart scored a late equaliser to earn Liverpool a 1-1 draw three years ago, while 12 months previous Napoli scored a controversial injury-time leveller despite there being two balls on the pitch at the time, prompting an already-volatile clash to boil over.
Barry Lewtas, the under-21s coach, was in charge of both games and will once again helm the U19s side in Europe this year, assisted by U18s boss Marc-Bridge Wilkinson. And he expects a testing examination at the Stadio Comunale Giuseppe Piccolo.
"The previous two times I took the team we played Napoli in the group, and it was always the tough game," said Lewtas, whose side will also take on Ajax and Rangers. "We played very well on home turf, but away from home it was tough, and we had to dig deep.
"I have been very fortunate to have been involved in quite a few campaigns now in the UEFA Youth League and it’s very exciting. The players are as well, we did well in the competition last season reaching the quarter-finals, and we want to do well in it again. It’s a great competition for the players and it’s also a great competition for the staff as well. It’s a really good learning experience for everyone."
Read the full story HERE.
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