Key events
More from Iraola, this time on the £57m exit of centre-back Illia Zabarnyi … “It is difficult when someone like PSG, winning the Champions League, comes for one of your players … I knew it was going to happen … I am very happy for him but it will be a big miss.”
… and his replacement Bafode Diakite, a £34m capture from Lille just a couple of days ago … “He is a great defender … it is probably risky to start him away here! … but he has experience in the Champions League … he will know the atmosphere … it will be a big test for him because he doesn’t have connections, the things you need with a team-mate … but we trust the player and hope he performs well.”
… then finally a word on Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez replacement at left-back, Adrien Truffert. “The transition has been quite smooth … he has adapted really well … today it will be a difficult job against Mo Salah … I hope he does well!”
It’s Andoni Iraola’s turn to chat with Sky, and he’s first asked about the upheaval in the Bournemouth defence, with three members of last season’s back line, plus the keeper, out the door. “It is a difficult moment … a lot of uncertainty … we cannot look at the negative side, and say we do not have these players … we have new players … even more players … and we have to build something again … a new start … exciting … this game will give us some more information … pre-season is always difficult … later we will know more about our team … we face the champions at Anfield … for the players we cannot ask much more than a start here!”
These two clubs are on the verge of doing some business with each other …
… but that’s not the only news of Liverpool in the market today.
Season previews. Time for one last look before the first ball is kicked in anger.
Slot continues: “We have lost many players and brought in many … even yesterday we brought in one who is not available yet … we have lost a few very good players … the ones we brought in are special as well … in general [in pre-season] we don’t concede more chances, but the ones we do concede have led to goals.”
Arne Slot speaks to Sky Sports, and first addresses the impact on his squad of this tragic summer. “The players are far better than I expected five or six weeks ago … in that moment in time, you feel will it ever be possible to play again? … but they have conducted themselves so, so, so well … on both sides they were great, as a human being, but they also understood they have to be professional football players again … so we had to work hard, and that’s what we started doing.”
Liverpool name four Premier League debutants this evening. Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez all start, as they did at Wembley against Crystal Palace last weekend in the Community Shield.
Bournemouth aren’t far behind them in that regard. They’ve got three new players in their line-up tonight: goalkeeper Đorđe Petrović, left-back Adrien Truffert and central defender Bafodé Diakité all make their competitive debuts for the Cherries.
The teams
Liverpool: Alisson, Frimpong, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai, Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo, Ekitike.
Subs: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Endo, Chiesa, Jones, Elliott, Robertson, Nyoni, Ngumoha.
Bournemouth: Petrovic, Smith, Diakite, Senesi, Truffert, Adams, Scott, Brooks, Tavernier, Semenyo, Evanilson.
Subs: Dennis, Araujo, Soler, Junior Kroupi, Hill, Traore, Billing, Winterburn, Rees-Dottin.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).
Diogo Jota is pictured on the cover of this evening’s match programme. Arne Slot pays tribute to Liverpool’s No20 and his brother André Silva in his notes, which confirm that Jota’s wife Rute Cardoso, his children and family will be at Anfield this evening. There will be a moment of silence before kick-off, the players will wear black armbands, and Liverpool will wear a Forever 20 emblem on their shirts and jackets.
We know that this will be a very emotional occasion, given it is the first league game we have played since we lost Diogo and André. As I have said previously, the tributes that have been paid throughout the football world, and especially within the LFC community, have been truly special, and I know that tonight we will come together to honour them once more.
I believe that Diogo’s wife, his children and his family will be in attendance and it is important that, as a club, we show that they will always have our love and support as they deal with this most tragic of situations. We are there for them always.”
Preamble
Almost exactly one year ago – 363 days, to be precise – Liverpool found themselves struggling during their season opener at Portman Road. Newly promoted Ipswich Town had been the better team in the first half, and with nearly an hour on the clock, the score remained goalless. But then Trent Alexander-Arnold curled in from the right, finding his team-mate who …
… flashed a header wide from six yards, when it was surely easier to score. Ah well.
No matter, though! That team-mate, an indefatigable bundle of joyous energy, selfless commitment, Fowleresque skill, and straight-up fun, wasn’t to be disheartened. He simply came at Ipswich again, 60 seconds later, entering the box to meet a Mohamed Salah pass by calmly and adroitly whipping a firm sidefoot into the corner. The first goal of the Arne Slot era, a crucial momentum-shifter, and the first step towards Premier League glory. Diogo Jota took Liverpool to victory. Better than Figo, don’t you know?
A year is a long time by any reasonable measure, but with another season opener upon us, all of that feels particularly distant now. Anfield, staging its first competitive fixture since the tragic passing of Diogo and his brother André Silva, will remember, grieve and celebrate those beautiful, beloved boys tonight with a special Kop mosaic in their honour. Then a game of football will take place. Kick-off will be at 8pm UK time, and Jota is forever Liverpool’s number 20.
