ITV are planning to broadcast Liverpool’s first match since Diogo Jota’s tragic death, with the Reds set to face Preston North End in a pre-season friendly on July 13
Liverpool’s first game since Diogo Jota tragically died in a car crash is set to be shown on ITV 1 – if it goes ahead. The Reds are due to face Preston North End at Deepdale on July 13 in their first pre-season friendly.
Liverpool’s pre-season plans were delayed after Jota’s death, with players set to report back to the club’s training ground on Tuesday. The first group of players were due to return on Friday, with a larger group set to join up on Monday.
The majority of the squad attended the funerals of Jota and his brother Andre on Saturday and it is understood that the club have not yet made a decision about whether the game against Preston will be played.
That call will be made once everyone has returned for pre-season and all the players and staff have been consulted. However, the Liverpool Echo are reporting that ITV are planning to broadcast the game if it goes ahead.
The report states that ITV’s decision was made ‘long before Jota’s tragic passing’, with a deal agreed in principle before the end of June. It is also noted that Joe Speight and former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock are set to commentate on the match.
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Preston are said to be preparing for the fixture as though it is going ahead, with the Championship side planning to pay tribute to Jota. Liverpool boss Arne Slot is among those to have paid a heartbreaking tribute to Jota.
“What to say? What can anyone say at a time like this when the shock and the pain is so incredibly raw? I wish I had the words but I know I do not,” Slot began. “All I have are feelings that I know so many people will share about a person and a player we loved dearly and a family we care so much about.
“My first thoughts are not those of a football manager. They are of a father, a son, a brother and an uncle and they belong to the family of Diogo and Andre Silva who have experienced such an unimaginable loss.
“My message to them is very clear – you will never walk alone. The players, the staff, the supporters of Liverpool Football Club are all with you and from what I have seen today, the same can be said of the wider family of football.
“This is not solely a response to tragedy. It is also a reaction to the goodness of the people involved and the respect that so many have for the boys as individuals and for the family as a whole.
“For us as a club, the sense of shock is absolute. Diogo was not just our player. He was a loved one to all of us. He was a teammate, a colleague, a workmate and in all of those roles he was very special.
“I could say so much about what he brought to our team but the truth is everyone who watched Diogo play could see it. Hard work, desire, commitment, great quality, goals. The essence of what a Liverpool player should be.”