Liverpool have announced their opening friendly of pre-season, which will see them visit Championship side Preston at the end of their first week of training.
The Reds will visit Deepdale for a early start to their friendly schedule on Sunday, July 13, kicking off at 3pm BST.
It comes at the end of their first week back at the AXA Training Centre, with Arne Slot already confirming his players will report back on July 8.
Preston were Slot’s first-ever opposition as Liverpool head coach, with the two sides meeting in a behind-closed-doors friendly around the same time last summer.
That resulted in a 1-0 defeat for a very mixed side with two different XIs for either half and 25 players used in total, the majority of which were on the fringes or from the academy.
Liverpool 2025 pre-season so far
July 8: Pre-season starts at AXA Training Centre
July 13: Preston (A)
July 21: Fly to Asia
July 26: AC Milan (Hong Kong)
July 30: Yokohama F. Marinos (Japan)
August 10: Crystal Palace (Community Shield)
This time around it will be a very strong squad heading to Deepdale, with no major international tournaments this summer.
It could bring a debut outing for Jeremie Frimpong, already confirmed as Liverpool’s first signing of the summer, along with any other new additions such as targets Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez.
Season-ticket holders and members can purchase tickets for the Preston friendly from 10am on Monday, June 16, with the general sale taking place from 10am on Tuesday, June 17.
After spending two weeks working at the AXA Training Centre, Slot and his players will then fly to Hong Kong on July 21.
That comes ahead of friendlies against AC Milan in Hong Kong on July 26 and then Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan on July 30.
Liverpool are yet to reveal any further details regarding their pre-season schedule but it is possible that another local friendly is arranged in the week between their trip to Preston and the flight to Asia.
This Is Anfield understands there are also plans in the works for a high-profile friendly at Anfield around the weekend of August 2/3.
Pre-season will effectively conclude with the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday, August 10, which will see Liverpool face FA Cup winners Crystal Palace.
Liverpool’s history with Preston
The Reds have played Preston 95 times in their history, including 25 friendlies, with their last official meeting resulting in a 2-0 win at Deepdale in the Carabao Cup fourth round in 2021.
Interestingly, despite how often they have clashed, the two sides have only met on five occasions in the last 55 years.
Along with their unofficial friendly last summer, Liverpool twice visited Deepdale for warmup games in 2013 and 2014 – both bringing victories for a side then managed by Brendan Rodgers.
Bill Shankly has a stand named after him at Deepdale, the Bill Shankly Kop, having spent 16 years at Preston as a player, helping win their last major trophy with the FA Cup in 1938.
