Liverpool have announced their plans to honour the lives of Diogo Jota and brother Andre Silva before Sunday’s opening pre-season friendly at Preston.
The Reds will face Championship opposition in their first warmup game of pre-season with a trip to Deepdale on Sunday afternoon.
A 3pm kickoff, the friendly was given the go ahead earlier this week following extensive talks between the clubs in light of the deaths of Jota and his brother.
Liverpool’s meeting with Preston will be their first outing since and the two clubs have now detailed their tributes to Diogo and Andre.
Preston have requested all supporters to be in their seats by 2.45pm as singer Claudia Rose Maguire will perform renditions of Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling In Love and Liverpool anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Representatives of Liverpool and Preston – likely including captain Virgil van Dijk – will lay wreaths in front of the away end, known as the Bill Shankly Kop.
Deepdale will observe a minute’s silence before kickoff while tributes will be displayed on the big screen and pitchside LEDs.
Both Liverpool and Preston players will wear black armbands to mark the loss of Jota and his younger brother.
The club have also announced that the game will be broadcast live worldwide on their digital streaming platform All Red Video along with terrestrial channel ITV1 in the UK.
Liverpool’s pre-match buildup will be free-to-air on the club’s social media channels and on YouTube but will cut off at kickoff.
That is due to right restrictions around the friendly.
Preston have produced a free special edition of their matchday programme in tribute to Diogo and Andre, with further tributes expected within the home and away support throughout.
Speaking after laying flowers at Jota’s memorial site outside Anfield earlier this week, Liverpool chief executive Billy Hogan explained that longer-term tributes will be made “at the appropriate time.”
“As a club, there’s been lots of ideas and certainly within the supporter base lots of ideas,” he told the club’s official website.
“That’s something we’ll take forward with the family and we want to have those conversations at the appropriate time.
“Obviously they have gone through an unimaginable situation over the course of the last several days.
“We certainly will, obviously, remember both Andre and Diogo and at the appropriate time we’ll make those plans clear.”
Liverpool are likely to consider retiring Jota’s No. 20 shirt in tribute to their late striker.
