Premier
League clubs are jetting around the world on their pre-season tours - but no
club is travelling further than Liverpool this summer.
The Reds will travel 21,743 miles before returning home for the start of the
new Premier League season.
Here we take a closer look at Liverpool's summer schedule and see how their
rivals compare...
Liverpool
Liverpool arrived in Thailand on Monday morning. Brendan Rodgers’ team take
on the True Thai All Stars before heading to the east and south coasts of
Australia to face Brisbane Roar and then Adelaide United. On their way home,
Liverpool stop off in Kuala Lumpur and play a Malaysia XI before finishing
off their pre-season fixtures with a trip to face HJK Helsinki, completing a
hectic 18-day schedule.
Total distance travelled: 21,743
Manchester City
Raheem Sterling will be saving himself a few pre-season miles by completing
his move to Manchester City, who aren’t quite going as far as Liverpool,
although it’s pretty close. Sterling will be joining up with his new
team-mates, who are already out in the Gold Coast of Australia, for the
International Champions Cup. Manuel Pellegrini’s side face Roma and Real
Madrid in the friendly tournament before returning to Manchester ahead of
the new season.
Total distance travelled: 21,116 miles
Arsenal
The Gunners are heading out to Singapore, accompanied by Everton and Stoke,
with all three sides taking part in the Asia Trophy. Arsene Wenger’s men
play a Singapore XI and, depending on the result, take on one of their
Premier League rivals in either the final or the third-place play-off. From
there, it’s back to London as they host the Emirates Cup to play Lyon and
Wolfsburg ahead of the Community Shield on August 2.
Total distance travelled: 13,520 miles
Manchester United
Manchester United – including goalkeeper David de Gea – have flown out to
the United States for the International Champions Cup. Louis van Gaal’s men
first play Club America in Seattle’s CenturyLink Field, then they have two
California-based matches against San Jose Earthquakes and Barcelona, before
finishing off against PSG in Chicago.
Total distance travelled: 10,963 miles
Chelsea
The Premier League champions will also be playing in the International
Champions Cup, but Jose Mourinho’s squad will base themselves over the
border in Montreal. They will be clocking up the air miles to and from
Canada, facing New York Red Bulls in New Jersey before matches against PSG
in Charlotte and Barcelona in Washington.
They then return home to play Arsenal in the Community Shield before
finishing their pre-season schedule with a final International Champions Cup
fixture at home to Fiorentina.
Total distance travelled: 10,064 miles
Rest of the league
Tottenham had post-season friendlies in Malaysia and Sydney at the end of
May, so Mauricio Pochettino’s men go on tour later than their counterparts.
They face the MLS All-Stars in Colorado at the end of July, then take part
in the Audi Cup in Munich, with a clash against Real Madrid followed by a
meeting with either Bayern Munich or AC Milan.
Plenty of other sides have chosen to head across the Atlantic, with
Newcastle, Sunderland, West Brom and new boys Bournemouth all playing
friendlies in the US.
Ronald Koeman has taken Southampton to Austria before they head to the
Netherlands, Aston Villa are currently in the Algarve, while Crystal Palace
will be heading to Cape Town and Norwich have a training camp planned in
Germany as well as a friendly in Austria.
Swansea and Watford are two others choosing to visit Germany, while West Ham
have had to visit Andorra for Europa League qualifying. Managerless
Leicester, however, have not arranged to go abroad in pre-season.
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