Liverpool are due to face Preston North End in a pre-season friendly at Deepdale on Sundayplaceholder image
Liverpool are due to face Preston North End in a pre-season friendly at Deepdale on Sunday | Getty Images
Liverpool are due to face Preston North End in a pre-season friendly at Deepdale on Sunday
Liverpool will consult all players and staff before deciding whether they will travel to Preston North End for their scheduled pre-season friendly on Sunday.
The newly-crowned Premier League champions had pencilled in the game at Deepdale (3pm) as their first close-season outing ahead of their title defence, which kicks off against Bournemouth on Friday, August 15.
However, there is the realistic and understandable possibility that the fixture could come around too soon after the tragic car crash that claimed the life of Anfield favourite Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva in Spain on Thursday.
Spanish officials say the car the duo were travelling in went off the road due to a tyre blowout while overtaking another vehicle. They were travelling back to the UK in order for Jota to report back for pre-season duty after his summer break.
Hundreds of mourners attended their funeral service in their hometown of Gondomar, Portugal, on Saturday. Among those to pay their respects and offer support to the family were a host of Jota’s Liverpool team-mates - including club captain Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson, who both carried floral tributes into the church - and Reds manager Arne Slot.
The funeral took place just 13 days after Portugal international Jota married his long-term partner Rute Cardoso, with whom he shared three children.
The devastating news of the accident came just one day before the first phase of the champions’ return to their AXA Training Centre base in Kirkby and before a larger contingent of players were due to report back for duty on Monday.
Those returns, however, were cancelled in order to help players and staff alike to process Jota’s passing, with Tuesday, July 8, now pencilled in as their return date.
Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson carry floral tributes as they arrive at the funeral service of Liverpool team-mate Diogo Jotaplaceholder image
Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson carry floral tributes as they arrive at the funeral service of Liverpool team-mate Diogo Jota | Getty Images
That return will no doubt prove hugely difficult. And according to the Liverpool Echo, a decision on whether the Reds will fulfil their pre-season fixture with North End will not be taken until all involved in the first-team set-up are consulted upon their arrivals back on Merseyside.
The Deepdale fixture represents PNE’s third game of their pre-season schedule. They kick-off their preparations for their latest Championship season on Tuesday night with a trip to Bamber Bridge 97pm). They then face Chorley at Victory Park on Wednesday evening at 7.30pm.
Further games against Getafe (July 18) and Bolton Wanderers (July 26) have also been pencilled in before the Litlywhites kick off their 2025-26 season with a trip to QPR on August 9.
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