A decision has reportedly been made as to whether the pre-season friendly between Preston and Liverpool will go ahead on Sunday as scheduled.
The fixture was initially confirmed several weeks ago and is due to be the Reds’ first match since the end of their triumphant Premier League campaign.
However, following the tragic death of Diogo Jota last week, the Lancashire club have given LFC the scope to decide whether or not they wish to play the fixture as planned and will respect whatever choice is made.
Liverpool’s friendly against Preston set to go ahead
According to the Daily Star, and later corroborated by the Evening Standard, the match between Preston and Liverpool is set to go ahead on Sunday. The two clubs have maintained a ‘constant dialogue’ regarding the fixture and have decided to proceed with playing it as scheduled.
Officials from Deepdale will meet with the Reds’ sporting director Richard Hughes and LFC’s communications department today to discuss how best to mark the occasion appropriately, with the Championship club to be guided by their Merseyside counterparts on the most suitable way in which to honour Diogo Jota’s memory.
The game will be shown live on ITV1, although the Liverpool Echo emphasised that the broadcasting decision was made a few days before the tragic death of our number 20 and that the timing is simply a sad coincidence.
Liverpool’s decision will be fully respected
Whatever decision Liverpool make regarding the match against Preston is sure to be universally respected, and it’s only right that the choice should rest with the Reds’ players and management once they’ve all been consulted.
If LFC feel that it’d be appropriate to fulfil the fixture, and the squad are in the right frame of mind to do so, then we 100% respect their stance.
The players made a sombre return to the AXA Training Centre on Tuesday, with Diogo’s teammates from last term joined by new signings Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz, Giorgi Mamardashvili and Milos Kerkez for the first day of pre-season preparations.
The game against Preston will be a hugely poignant occasion, and we fully trust that both clubs will make appropriate tributes to Jota and his brother Andre Silva as Liverpool take the first tentative steps towards restoring a sense of routine and normality, insofar as possible after such a heartbreaking tragedy.
The absence of our number 20 will continue to be felt for a long time, but his memory will endure in everything that the team does in the days, weeks and months ahead.
