With the Club World Cup causing chaos to the summer schedule, Liverpool should enter the new campaign better rested than at least two of their rivals.
Liverpool play six friendlies across three countries, culminating in the Community Shield on August 10 before their Premier League opener against Bournemouth, five days later.
Meanwhile, the Reds’ rivals will be making their final preparations for the new campaign, some having had a smoother start to the season than others.
While Aston Villa have eight fixtures planned, Man City have just one scheduled due to their Club World Cup participation alongside Chelsea.
Here is a guide to who Liverpool’s rivals will face in pre-season, where they will be travelling and when they will be playing:
Arsenal
• AC Milan – Singapore – July 23
• Newcastle – Singapore – July 27
• Tottenham – Hong Kong – July 31
• Villarreal – London – August 6
• Athletic Bilbao – London – August 9
Kicking off slightly later than some of their Premier League counterparts, Arsenal don’t have a listed friendly before their tour of the Far East.
First, they head to Singapore before visiting Hong Kong for a North London derby. They then return home for matches against Spanish opponents Villarreal and Athletic Club.
New signings Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard should both be involved as Mikel Arteta’s squad put in the hard yards ahead of a season in which they will hope to go one better than their previous four consecutive second-place finishes.
Man City
• Palermo – Sicily – August 9
Man City‘s participation in the Club World Cup has already been pitched as a potentially negative influence during the 2025/26 campaign.
Pep Guardiola’s side were knocked out of the Club World Cup on July 1, losing 4-3 to Al-Hilal in the Round of 16.
Only one pre-season match has been organised so far, but we would expect Man City to at least play one other behind-closed-door game before the opening weekend.
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Chelsea
• Bayer Leverkusen – London – August 8
• AC Milan – London – August 10
Having only completed their Club World Cup games on July 13, Chelsea‘s pre-season will be the shortest of any Premier League club as their players need to take their well-earned holiday in July.
However, they do still have a couple of testing warm-up matches at Stamford Bridge on August 8 and August 10, against Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan respectively, the weekend before their competitive campaign kicks off.
Newcastle
• Celtic – Glasgow – July 19
• Arsenal – Singapore – July 27
• K-League Select XI – South Korea – July 30
• Tottenham – South Korea – August 3
• Espanyol – Newcastle – August 8
• Atletico Madrid – Newcastle – August 9
Newcastle get their pre-season underway with a trip to Glasgow to play Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic before heading out to Asia, where they will face Arsenal in Singapore and a K-League Select XI in South Korea.
A match against Tottenham will follow, prior to the squad flying back to the northeast for home games against Espanyol and Atletico.
Aston Villa
• Walsall – Birmingham – July 16
• Hansa Rostock – Germany – July 19
• Eintracht Frankfurt – Kentucky – July 27
• St Louis City – St Louis – July 31
• Nashville – Nashville – August 2
• Roma – Birmingham – August 6
• Olympique Marseille – Marseille – August 9
• Villarreal – Spain – August 10
Aston Villa are taking full commercial advantage of their on-field success, heading out to the USA after friendlies in Walsall and Rostock.
Following games in Kentucky, St Louis and Nashville, Unai Emery’s side will return to the UK for a match against Roma before again flying abroad, this time to play Marseille and then Villarreal.
Tottenham
• Reading – Reading – July 19
• Luton – London – July 26
• Arsenal – Hong Kong – July 31
• Newcastle – South Korea – August 3
• Bayern Munich – Germany – August 7
• PSG (Super Cup) – Italy – August 13
Tottenham have been making moves in the transfer market to help improve on their 17th-place finish last time around.
Thomas Frank has replaced Ange Postecoglou as manager, Mohammed Kudus has been signed from West Ham and Morgan Gibbs-White could join him this summer.
In addition, Mathys Tel has been recruited on a permanent basis while Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has left for Marseille.
A UEFA Super Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain awaits Tottenham at Udinese’s Stadio Friuli on August 13. This will technically be a competitive match, unlike Liverpool’s Community Shield fixture against Crystal Palace.
Man United
• Leeds – Sweden – July 19
• West Ham – New Jersey – July 27
• Bournemouth – Chicago – July 31
• Everton – Atlanta – August 3
• Fiorentina – Manchester – August 9
Man United have actually already played two friendlies this summer, as they jetted out to Malaysia just three days after their final Premier League match.
In Kuala Lumpur, they lost 1-0 against ASEAN All-Stars, but they beat a Hong Kong XI 3-1.
Now, they head back out on tour, travelling to the USA for matches in New Jersey, Chicago and Atlanta. Finally, they will face Fiorentina at Old Trafford on August 9.
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