Liverpool and Manchester United, England, are kicking off preparations for a busy season with a tour of the market-rich Asian continent for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Liverpool and Manchester United fans will have an unprecedented opportunity to watch the two historic rivals meet in the Thai capital Bangkok at the 51,000 capacity Rajamangala Stadium on Tuesday.
But many will be disappointed after waking up on Friday to the news that Portuguese attacking star Cristiano Ronaldo is absent from United for “family reasons” amid rumors that he will be leaving the Red Club.
Fans have to spend a lot of money to watch the stars of two teams, such as the Egyptian Salah, the Dutchman Virgil van Dijk from Liverpool or the Portuguese Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire from Manchester United, since the cheapest tickets cost about $140.
Mo Salah scored Liverpool’s ninth goal against Manchester United last season. pic.twitter.com/BBvnQHjvl8
— Liverpool Goals (@Liverpoolgoals_) July 1, 2022
After the match, United will travel to Australia, where they will face Melbourne Victory, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
As for Liverpool, they will face Crystal Palace in Singapore, while Leeds United and Aston Villa will play in the Queensland Champions Cup in Australia with local team Brisbane Roar.
For its part, Paris Saint-Germain, which includes Argentine stars Lionel Messi, Brazilian Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, is moving to Japan after dropping its Argentine manager Mauricio Pochettino and replacing him on Tuesday with a former Nice manager Christoph Galtier.
Tottenham will be very welcome in South Korea next week as they include Asia’s top striker Son Heung-min, who shared with Liverpool’s Egyptian Mohamed Salah, the top scorer in the English Premier League last season.
Tottenham, which includes the captains of the men’s and women’s national teams of South Korea, in addition to the Spanish Sevilla, will meet in Suwon with a group of players from the South Korean league.
Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Leeds United are flying to Singapore and Australia in an attempt to reunite with their Asian fans after being forced into a ‘quarantine’ as a result of the Corona virus outbreak in the past two years.
Source: AFP