Manchester United to face Liverpool on pre-season tour to Thailand, Australia

Manchester United will face eternal rivals Liverpool as part of their pre-season tour to Thailand and Australia in July, the Premier League club announced on Thursday.

United will meet Liverpool at Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok on 12 July to contest the Bangkok Century Cup before flying to Australia to play A-League team Melbourne Victory on 15 July and Crystal Palace four days later. The popular Melbourne Cricket Ground will host those matches.

"It has been two years since the club has been able to travel on an international pre-season tour, so we can’t wait to get going this summer and reconnect with our fans in south-east Asia and Australasia," said United's chief operating officer Collette Roche.

Liverpool commercial director Ben Latty said: “Pre-season tour is a vitally important time of year for our players to prepare for the upcoming season, and it provides a fantastic opportunity to meet with fans around the world. Since the start of the pandemic we’ve been unable to travel for pre-season and so we’re extremely excited to be able to visit our supporters globally once again and compete in games like ‘The Match’. This trip to Bangkok will be very special and we’re really looking forward to having many of our supporters with us along the way.”

United are currently sixth in the Premier League on 50 points after 29 matches. They play host to Leicester City on Saturday. Liverpool, who trail leaders Manchester City by just one point, could temporarily go top if they beat Watford at Anfield earlier on Saturday.