Tributes are laid for Diogo Jota at Anfieldplaceholder image
Tributes are laid for Diogo Jota at Anfield | Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Preston North End host Liverpool in a pre-season friendly on Sunday
Preston North End have asked fans to be in their seats by 2:45pm on Sunday, to pay respects to Diogo Jota and André Silva.
The Lilywhites host Liverpool in a 3:00pm kick-off this weekend. It is the Premier League champions’ first match since the tragic passing of Diogo, and his brother, on July 3.
It was decided this week that the game would go ahead, with players and staff consulted after Liverpool’s return to pre-season training was put on pause until July 8.
At 2:50pm on Sunday, Claudia Rose Maguire - wife of ex-PNE striker and Liverpool fan, Sean - will sing ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’.
This will be followed by the Anfield club’s anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, during which PNE captain Ben Whiteman will lay a wreath in front of the away fans.
A minute’s silence will follow prior to kick-off with tributes to be displayed on the big screen, and across LEDs. All players will wear black armbands.
North End will also offer a 16-page matchday programme, dedicated to Diogo and André, free of charge to those with a ticket for the game.
“Were a club in mourning.”
Speaking to LFC TV this week, CEO Billy Hogan said: "It has only been a couple of days but, as we all know, it has been just absolutely devastating. We’re a club in mourning. We have all been completely shocked by the situation and, again, can only think of what this has meant to their family.
“What we see behind us and the overwhelming outpouring of support and emotion and grief and love – having a chance to walk down the row here and read the cards and read the messages, our anthem, You’ll Never Walk Alone, it does mean something.
"In this case, I think everybody just feels so passionately about making sure that we remember the two boys but also that we support their family, and we’re going to work through this together."
He added: "As a club, there’s been lots of ideas and certainly, within the supporter base, lots of ideas,. 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.
"We’ve got the match on Sunday at Deepdale and we’ll of course remember them at that match. Then the tour, then we come back to Anfield and then the season starts, so we’re thinking about all of those moments. Of course, we want to make sure we do the right thing and appropriately remember both Andre and Diogo."
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