Liverpool expect a major step forward on Friday in their dreams to build a new stadium near to Anfield in Stanley Park.

The city council's executive board will recommend leasing a section of the park for the stadium, and if the decision is rubber-stamped, the club could start building work early next year with the first game possible at the beginning of the 2009-10 season.

The club will have to come up with their own part of the deal, a privately-funded bid to build the stadium, and they have until the end of the month to satisfy the council that is possible.