Preston North End: Lindsay 82’,
Liverpool: Bradley 33’, Nunez 53’, Gakpo 88’
Pre-Match
Whether we like it or not the first match of the summer is here, starting the season’s preparations in earnest. There is no running from it or rescheduling, as everyone is already here. Well, not everyone. Tragically, the world must go on without Diogo Jota, and the squad will surely do the best they can without our delightful striker on this Earth.
The visit to Preston is the first run out for the boys since wrapping the season up in May, and there will be a lot to think about and analyze, including how the loss may be effecting the mentalities of the squad. We have to meet the moment head on, though, and play to the whistles. All but one of the new signings are included in the matchday squad, with Florian Wirtz missing out. As this is the first friendly match of the summer, we can expect to see pretty much everyone named on the bench to come on at some point to assess their levels of readiness for the training and season ahead.
First Half
This sold out match begins, of course, with a minute’s silent tribute to Diogo and his brother Andre Silva, observed impeccably throughout the sold out stadium. The fans immediately pick back up singing Diogo’s song before kick off, and we are underway before long, wearing last season’s shirts to the very end.
Nothing has really changed about this Liverpool squad, as they continue with their focused ball carrying and high pressing style, although maybe a bit slow as they shake off some of the summer rust. In addition to the senior members, there is a fair amount of Academy kids out there as well, eager to make an impression on Arne Slot ahead of the upcoming season. There hasn’t been much of any good impressions just yet in these first eight-ish minutes, though, as touches are heavy and passes get missed.
It has taken about ten minutes but Liverpool have finally remembered how to connect more than one pass together, finally getting back into Preston’s final third but Rio Ngumoha’s cross, lovely as it was, just misses Salah. The youngster has been one of the more impressive debutantes of the day so far, being a vital piece of moving the ball forward and getting the closest to scoring and assisting.
The stadium rings out with Diogo’s song once again, this time at the 20th minute, naturally, continuing on as the squads break for water in the English heat. The first goal comes from Conor Bradley, by way of Ngumoha and Federico Chiesa, and the Reds are finally ahead with ten minutes to go in the first half.
Second Half
We come out with a whole new lineup for the second half, with new signings Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong making their debuts and looking a little more focused than the first half. Cody Gakpo is also out with his new bleached hair, very nearly getting into good spaces. This line up of course now has a lead to protect, so they are a little bit more lively it appears, with Andy Robertson wearing the armband in this half in the absence of Virgil van Dijk (he’s fine, just watching from the stands).
Liverpool double the lead when Darwin Núñez (with his newly shorn head) takes advantage of a Preston defender losing track of who was nearby and the striker finishes beautifully, making it 2-0 and doing both of Diogo’s iconic celebrations in tribute.
Liverpool win a free kick not long after, and it is finally time to see who might be taking the kicks in the season. Darwin steps up and skies it, so we really are back my friends. Preston make some changes at the 59th minute to try and get a little bit of control back, but it’s not exactly like Liverpool are running away with this match either. Andy Robertson is playing center back for heaven’s sake.
This half looks a little more like an actual game and not whatever the first half was, which truly means nothing in the grand scheme of pre-season matches, but at least we’re winning. The kids have been especially impressive, not only Rio but the ones we’ve seen before, like Ben Doak (back from his loan spell) and Lewis Koumas. Another water break in the 68th minute as Preston makes a couple more changes. Endo gets very close to scoring after a beautiful cross from Koumas in the 74th minute, but his shot gets blocked pretty quickly by a Preston defender and no one is able to make it 3 in the scrum of it all.
Preston finally pull one back in the 82nd minute, scoring an incredible header from a corner, and Freddie Woodman (who replaced Mamardashvili in the second half) had no chance to block it. Liverpool have switched off a little bit as if they are 3 goals up, letting Preston back into the game, but with less than ten minutes left, they might be able to hold on. It wouldn’t be the worst thing if they didn’t, though. Cody Gakpo does indeed make it 3, thankfully, also doing Jota’s Baby Shark celebration and holding up a 2 and 0 in tribute to their friend - just the type of goal Diogo would’ve loved to score.
Final Thoughts
It’s a friendly so who cares if they actually did the thing - but they did. In the best way to honor Diogo and Andre. Winning.