Liverpool FC Building Foundations to Challenge with New Anfield Redevelopment

Anfield opens its doors on Saturday after a long summer of redevelopment work, with Liverpool set to play host to Premier League champions Leicester City for their first home clash of the 2016/17 campaign.

The Reds' stadium has undergone a major makeover since its last outing on May 11. That day, Jurgen Klopp's side played out a 1-1 draw with Chelsea in something of a meaningless encounter, with Christian Benteke's late equaliser pushing Liverpool to the 59-point mark, far removed from the league's top four.

An attendance of 43,210 saw the likes of Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge in action against Guus Hiddink's Blues, per Transfermarkt, but when the Foxes take to Anfield on Saturday evening, a crowd of 54,167 can be expected, according to the Liverpool Echo's Andy Kelly.

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"If that is the case it will be the biggest Anfield crowd since the final home game of the 1976/77 season, a 0-0 draw with West Ham played out in front of 55,675," Kelly reported at the beginning of September, describing the late 1970s as "halcyon days" for the club.

Under Bob Paisley, the Reds were an unstoppable force, winning 14 major honours over eight seasons, including six First Division titles and three European Cups—the equivalent of the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.

A passionate Anfield crowd played a significant role in this, roaring Liverpool on to glory, something club owner Fenway Sports Group is looking to recapture as their plans to redevelop the stadium unfold.

With the first phase of their expansion to be unveiled to the BT Sport cameras on Saturday, FSG will mark a milestone in planning that they hope will see Liverpool boosted significantly.

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"The Kop is unrivalled. The atmosphere, I was really surprised, because we've heard so much about needing a new stadium," FSG founder and Reds owner John W. Henry told Fox Soccer (h/t BBC Sport) months after securing the takeover of Liverpool. "We were surprised at how beautiful Anfield was both viewing it as an empty stadium and then with the first game. It would be hard to replicate that feeling anywhere else."

After previous owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett fell short on their vow that "the spade has to be in the ground within 60 days" to be in line with their plans to build Liverpool a new stadium in 2007, as relayed by the Guardian three years later, Henry and co-owner Tom Werner opted for a different approach.

Plans to redevelop were officially finalised and announced in 2014, with the Mirror's James Dutton reporting that Henry and Werner's vision would end "one of the most fraught and protracted stadium sagas in sporting history."

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Work was scheduled for 2016, and with FSG in a significantly more financially stable position than the club's previous owners, it was confirmed that redevelopment on Anfield would not impact on Liverpool's success in the transfer market or the shape of their current squad.

The redevelopment would begin with the expansion of the Main Stand, while interior facilities both public and corporate, matchday necessities such as dugouts, changing rooms and the players' entrance and the concourses around the stadium were due to be renovated.

This, as FSG president Mike Gordon told the club's official website last summer, would retain the club's connection with its history and the ethos of the city:

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John, Tom and I completely share the view that we want the Main Stand expansion to retain the heart and spirit of Anfield and the city of Liverpool itself.

When supporters walk the concourses we want them to feel connected to Liverpool’s existing buildings and all they represent.

Our consultants have walked around the city, studied Liverpool’s rich history and what makes it unique, and then incorporated those elements throughout the design.

The spaces in the new stand have been designed to create a much warmer feel than you would usually find in a typical football stadium.

"

Walking in and around the stadium, as Bleacher Report was able to do prior to Saturday's league outing, it is easy to grasp the magnitude of this improvement, with Anfield now more in line with the likes of the Emirates Stadium and the Etihad Stadium in terms of facilities and the overall matchday experience:

Liverpool have ensured that key moments in the club's history are honoured outside the stadium, too, with the relocation of the Hillsborough Memorial to 96 Avenue, a path running adjacent to the Main Stand, while the famous Shankly Gates were reopened on Tuesday afternoon in a new position outside the Centenary Stand.

Improvement could be witnessed across the neighbouring Stanley Park, too, with Liverpool's work with the city council ensuring an injection of funds into local facilities—though Anfield itself remains a relatively dilapidated area, suggesting this is a project with a long-term projection.

However, comparing the new-look Anfield to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium may stick in the throats of supporters, with concerns over a loss of the intimidation factor of Liverpool's home pervading redevelopment work.

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Anfield's "halcyon days" came before the introduction of all-seater regulations in the Premier League in 1994—most notably prompted by the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, with 96 supporters losing their lives in a crush during Liverpool's FA Cup semi-final meeting with Nottingham Forest—and while these changes were absolutely necessary, matchday atmospheres have arguably suffered as a result.

However, Anfield has largely retained its formidable status throughout, with Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, telling then-Real Madrid team-mate Alvaro Arbeloa that it was "the most difficult away ground from his time in the Premier League," as the right-back told the Telegraph's Chris Bascombe in 2014.

But while the redevelopment of the Main Stand has added 8,500 seats, and therefore 8,500 voices, the more corporate sheen of the new-look Anfield—along with the refurbishment of away facilities—could threaten to detract from this atmosphere.

Though this largely opens up the debate of the mentality of the modern supporter, the onus remains on Klopp and his side to match the ambition of Liverpool's owners and conjure this spirit through performances on the pitch.

During Liverpool's run under Klopp in 2015/16, the Reds manager regularly called for Anfield to create a "special atmosphere," explaining to the press in December that "we should be prepared, all of us, for a very special moment."

Adding to his squad with seven shrewd additions over the summer, Klopp is building a side capable of challenging in the future, and FSG are supporting this heavily—as evidenced by the positive work continuing at Anfield.

No doubt looking for a return on their investment in the future, Henry and Werner will be hoping that they have now provided Klopp with the foundations to challenge in the Premier League and beyond in the future.

The next step will be taking on Claudio Ranieri's Leicester at Anfield on Saturday evening, with a passionate crowd—54,167 to be precise—poised to roar Klopp's Liverpool on.

Jack Lusby will be covering Liverpool throughout 2016/17 as one of Bleacher Report's lead correspondents. Statistics via Transfermarkt.co.uk, quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Follow Jack on Twitter @jacklusby_ and Facebook here.