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Liverpool faces Athletic Club in two friendlies today (Monday), with the first game kicking off at 5pm BST (9am PT/12pm ET) and the second getting under way at 8pm BST (12pm PT/3pm ET).
The games are the Reds' last in their pre-season schedule, after recording victories over Preston North End, Stoke City, and Yokohama F. Marinos, with the only defeat coming against AC Milan in Hong Kong.
It is likely to be an emotional evening at Anfield as it is the first time that Liverpool will have played at its home stadium since the death of Diogo Jota a month ago.
Both Arne Slot and Virgil van Dijk addressed the difficulty of the last few weeks in their program notes, with the Liverpool head coach issuing a message to fans, which said: "I know that you will want to pay your tributes before, during and after the games, and I know that we will hear his song ringing out throughout the evening.
“It has been a tough time for everyone connected with the club, but especially for Diogo’s family, his wife, his children and friends.
“We cannot imagine the pain that they have been going through, and the club will continue to give them all the support they can going forward. We will always carry him with us in our hearts, in our thoughts, wherever we go."
Van Dijk, meanwhile, said it had been a "surreal" and "very challenging" period for everyone associated with the club since Jota's passing.
"We are all in this together, we all have to go through this together, and we will," the Liverpool captain said. "We will honor Diogo today, and in the future also. He will always be with us.
“The support from the fans, and from the football world in general, has been incredible. That’s a beautiful thing, you know? At the end of the day, life can be short and it can be incredibly difficult at times. We all have to live it, enjoy it as much as we can and try to keep this world the best place possible. That’s all we can do.
“From the Liverpool community especially, the togetherness that has been shown so far has been incredible. It will obviously still be tough, but we have to be there for each other and for Diogo’s family. I encourage everyone connected to Liverpool to continue to do exactly that.
“So today, let’s honor him, let’s enjoy the games and let’s do it together. It’s good to see you all again.”
Turning to matters on the field, and it remains unclear how Slot intends to approach the friendlies regarding his team selections, but one possible way for him to tackle the two games would be to field two separate starting XIs that feature a mix of first-team regulars, fringe players and youngsters.
Here's how we think the two line-ups could look if Slot goes down that route...
Starting XI No.1: Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Konate, Robertson, Tsimikas; Gravenberch, Jones, Wirtz; Salah, Nunez, Ekitike
Starting XI No.2: Pecsi; Bradley, Van Dijk, Stephenson, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Nyoni, Szoboszlai; Ngumoha, Gakpo, Elliott
Alisson is reportedly set to miss out after leaving the pre-season tour of Asia due to personal reasons, while Joe Gomez also left the tour early due to an achilles problem.
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