Preston North End to face Liverpool in behind-closed-doors friendly
Another pre-season test for PNE
Preston North End will take on Liverpool in a behind-closed-doors friendly today, the Lancashire Post understands.
The kick-off time is unknown, but it’s believed that the Lilywhites will ramp up their preparations for the new season - with a match at Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre. Preston have played three pre-season matches so far, and Ryan Lowe’s side will now pit their wits against the Premier League giants - who are getting ready for a first campaign under new boss Arne Slot.
North End played against Southport on Tuesday and Bamber Bridge on Wednesday, with players - over the course of both games - getting 90 minutes into their legs. Midfielder Ben Whiteman was one exception to that, but Preston’s manager has explained that the captain’s minutes were simply managed - and he will feature in Friday’s encounter.
“He’s fine and will play in the game tomorrow,” said Lowe, on Thursday. “He’d been out for a while, hadn’t he? He has a programme he has to do for his ankles and he’ll continue to do that. We just felt 45 minutes against Southport and nothing against Bamber Bridge would benefit him. He will train today and play tomorrow. He just needs to keep tallying up the minutes and working hard.”
As for Liverpool, a number of stars will not be back yet after this summer’s Euro 2024 and Copa America. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch, Ibrahima Konate, Diogo Jota and Alisson Becker could all well be absent - due to their summer holidays starting late.
But, Slot has been working with a large group of players in the last few weeks and Preston will go toe-to-toe with a quality outfit. Harvey Elliott, Kostas Tsimikas, Fabio Carvalho, Jarell Quansah, Curtis Jones, Conor Bradley, Stefan Bajcetic and co will all likely feature - as could former PNE loan star Sepp van den Berg.