Liverpool has confirmed its plans to commemorate Diogo Jota and Andre Silva in its first game since the brothers’ deaths last week.
The Reds will face Preston at the Championship club’s Deepdale ground on Sunday in their first pre-season game of the summer. The decision for the game to go ahead was confirmed this week after Liverpool’s players were consulted following the tragic passing of their teammate and his brother.
Jota and Silva died in a car accident in Spain last week as they made their way to catch a ferry, with the former heading back to Liverpool for the start of pre-season.
Tributes have been flooding in since the sad news, with the majority of Liverpool’s squad attending the funeral in Jota’s hometown of Gondomar in Portugal last weekend.
Liverpool has now confirmed a number of tributes will take place during Sunday’s friendly against Preston as the Reds mark their first game following their teammate’s passing.
The club has announced there will be a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone ahead of kick-off, with the hosts set to lay a wreath alongside the away supporters.
Tributes continue to flood in at Anfield for Diogo Jota
Tributes continue to flood in at Anfield for Diogo Jota (Image: Getty Images)
A minute’s silence will then be observed in Jota and Silva’s memory, with digital tributes being displayed on screen and across pitchside LEDs. Both sets of players will also wear black armbands.
Preston has also created a commemorative matchday programme which features written tributes to Jota and Silva.
The game is set to be televised live in the UK on free-to-air channel ITV, with the broadcaster having agreed to show the game before Jota’s tragic passing.
Liverpool’s announcement comes as former and current players continue to pay tribute to Jota and his brother. Reds legend Steven Gerrard was the latest to lay a floral tribute at Anfield, following on from Dominik Szoboszlai, Milos Kerkez and Armin Pecsi on Thursday.
Arne Slot and his wife observe the Diogo Jota memorial outside Anfield
Arne Slot and his wife observe the Jota memorial outside Anfield
Explaining the club’s plans to commemorate Jota and Silva, Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan said: "It is early, it has obviously only been a few days. I think the most important thing in this process is that we want to make sure we are respecting the family.
"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."