Liverpool FC have confirmed plans for a pre-season tour in Asia this summer, with Arne Slot‘s squad taking part in games in Hong Kong and Japan ahead of the 2025/26 season.
The Reds will play AC Milan in what will be the first football match to be played in the newly opened Kai Tak Stadium in Hong Kong on Saturday 26 July.
From there, they will then travel to Japan, with the details for a game or games there yet to be announced.
Given that Arsenal and Tottenham will also play each other in Hong Kong, it’s quite possible that one of those will be an opponent while in Japan.
A visit to Japan would, of course, be quite an event for Wataru Endo visiting his homeland. Let’s hope he’s still part of the squad then!
Liverpool last visited Asia in 2023 when they played in Singapore, and were previously in Hong Kong in 2017. However, it will be the club’s first pre-season visit to Japan – they did, though, play in Yokohama and Tokyo in the Club World Cup in 2005 and 1981.
After the visit to Asia, Liverpool will hopefully have the Community Shield (August 9) to take part in before the new Premier League season begins on August 16.
Who could be involved?
There are a lot of unanswered questions pertaining to Liverpool’s squad beyond the current season, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah all out of contract.
The former is anticipated to join Real Madrid but the latest on Salah and Van Dijk is that Liverpool remain ‘optimistic’ they will stay at Anfield.
Beyond the obvious three, there is speculation over the future of the likes of Caoimhin Kelleher, Kostas Tsimikas, Harvey Elliott, Endo, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and even Federico Chiesa.
Slot’s squad could, therefore, look very different by the time they board the plane to Hong Kong and Japan later this summer, as the expectation is a number of new signing will also have been confirmed.
Thankfully for those wishing to attend, though, Liverpool’s squad will not have a series of late returnees as they did last summer as there is no major international tournament.
It is a huge bonus for Slot and his coaches but also for fans hoping to see the first team in action.
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