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This is usually the time clubs gear up for the new season.

Players return from holidays, new signings settle in, and pre-season games begin.

The mood is usually upbeat.

But for one club this summer, everything feels different.

And for their first scheduled friendly, even their opponents are adjusting their plans.

Pre-season fixtures are often low-key.

They help managers experiment and build fitness.

But this one might carry more meaning than most?

Liverpool are still reeling.

Their squad is just returning to training.

And while they prepare for the new season, emotions remain heavy in the camp.

Their scheduled friendly has become more than a game.

Liverpool’s first pre-season match is currently set for Sunday, July 13, against Preston North End at Deepdale.

According to Liverpool Echo, final decision on whether the match will go ahead will be made “once the group have reported back for pre-season training and after all players and staff have been consulted.”

The mood in the Liverpool squad is understandably sombre following the tragic death of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, who both died on Thursday morning.

The crash occurred while they were travelling across Spain, heading back to Merseyside to report for pre-season.

In response, the first phase of Liverpool’s players did not report back to the AXA Training Centre on July 4 as planned.

Instead, they were “granted extra time off to process the devastating news”, and most of them travelled to Portugal to attend Jota’s funeral in Gondomar on Saturday, July 5.

If the fixture goes ahead, Preston North End are planning tributes in honour of Jota at Deepdale.

The Championship side are in contact with Liverpool and have made it clear that they will “be led by them when it comes to deciding if the friendly will be played.”

Preparations for the game are ongoing, but the focus is now much more than football.

Read more: Ozzy Osbourne honors Diogo Jota with tribute at farewell concert

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