Liverpool pre-season plans: Manchester United friendly, Bangkok visit and what happens next

Liverpool will meet Manchester United in Thailand when their pre-season schedule begins in Bangkok in July.

The Reds will play United in a friendly at the Rajamangala Stadium on July 12 as the two giants of English football look to make the most of a lucrative tour of of Southeast Asia later this year. The exhibition contest - which will see both teams clash for the Bangkok Century Cup - will be the first time Liverpool have visited the region since 2015 under Brendan Rodgers.

The tour also marks the club's first summer outside of Europe since 2019 when they played games across the United States after winning the Champions League. Liverpool have been limited to where they have been able to fly to in recent years because of the pandemic and spent the best part of a month out in Austria and France last year. In 2020, the Reds also stayed near Salzburg for a training camp, but the ending of restrictions allows the club to embark on long-haul flights for lucrative commercial tours once more.

The Rajamangala Stadium, which holds over 50,000, is viewed as the ideal venue for both United and the Reds to square off in a high-profile friendly known officially as 'The Match' with Liverpool keen to take full advantage of the ability to visit areas like Thailand again.

In 2018, more than 100,000 fans came out to see Liverpool take on United in Michigan as the Reds beat their historic rivals 4-1 in the International Champions Cup. The commercial departments of both clubs are acutely aware of the potential earning ability for a repeat fixture in Asia this summer.

Liverpool's 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