Liverpool confirm plan to honour Diogo Jota at first match since star's tragic death

Liverpool and Preston North End will pay tribute to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, before their friendly match on Sunday after they were killed in a road traffic accident last week.

The Reds are in mourning after Jota, 28, and his younger brother, 25, tragically died when the car they were driving in suffered a tyre blow-out and crashed in the Spanish province of Zamora. Their funeral took place in their hometown of Gondomar, Portugal last Saturday.

Liverpool's pre-season friendly at Preston this weekend marks the first time they have played since Jota's passing.

And the club have confirmed that both they and their Championship opponents will honour Jota and his brother prior to the game.

Preston will lay a wreath in front of the travelling Liverpool fans before kick-off, while You'll Never Walk Alone will be played shortly before 3pm.

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In a statement confirming the tributes, Liverpool said: "Diogo Jota and Andre Silva will be commemorated with a number of tributes at Liverpool’s match against Preston North End.

"The Reds will take to the pitch for a friendly at Deepdale on Sunday for the first time since the brothers tragically died in a road traffic accident in Spain.

"Ahead of the 3pm BST kick-off, there will be a rendition of LFC anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone and the home club will lay a wreath alongside the away supporters.

"A minute’s silence will be observed in Diogo and Andre’s memory and digital tributes will be displayed on the screen and across pitchside LEDs. Both sets of players will wear black armbands.

"Preston have also created a commemorative edition of the matchday programme that features written tributes to Diogo and Andre."

Billy Hogan, Liverpool's CEO, confirmed to LFCTV earlier this week that the club were working on plans to honour Jota. He said: "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."