Key events
Read our Premier League fans’ previews
Liverpool
We’ve made some great signings, raided the Bundesliga for Frimpong, Wirtz and Ekitiké and swooped south for Kerkez, with more to come. Our target is clear then: to finish top again and go further in Europe. And we must try without one of our stars, Diogo Jota, whose loss is immeasurable, of course to his family first and foremost. What he meant to the boss, the team, each individual player and the supporters has been evident in the outpourings of love and respect shown in these past weeks. We won’t forget him and in doing all we can to succeed we will honour his memory.
Preamble
Thank heavens for the Community Shield. In an age of 24/7/365 football – when seasons, competitions and opinions blur into one headache-inducing mass – the role of the Community Shield as the curtain raiser for the new English season is more important than ever.
The reality is more complicated – the EFL kicked off nine days ago – but we’re not here for that or to talk about. We’re here to watch FA Cup winners Crystal Palace meet runaway champions Liverpool on a sweltering afternoon at Wembley.
In different ways, both teams have had difficult summers. Palace were demoted to the Conference League, have barely spent a penny on players and could lose Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze before the transfer window closes.
Liverpool have spent like never before, signing Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong for a combined fee of around £250m. They recouped more than half of that with the sales of Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Jarell Quansah and others. But the summer of 2025 will always be remembered for the shocking death of Diogo Jota, aged 28, in a car crash.
Life goes on, football goes on, but today’s game will be played in shadow.
Kick off 3pm.
