Manchester United and Liverpool will complete their preseason tours of the United States by facing each other in Columbia, South Carolina.
The setting is Williams-Brice Stadium, home of South Carolina Gamecocks football. It also played the role of Wolf Den Stadium, home of the fictional Eastern State Timber Wolves, in the timeless cult classic college football film “The Program.”
Liverpool FC vs Manchester United FYIs
Kickoff: Sat. Aug. 3, Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, South Carolina, 12:30am (BST), 7:30pm local
Competition: club friendly, branded the “Rivals in Red”
Starting XI Predictions: United Liverpool
Buy the book: Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America
So there it is, your fun fact of the day.
While this match is just a friendly, it should have a lot of intensity, just like the football team in that movie. “PLACE AT THE TABLE! STARTING DEFENSE! RARRRRARRRRRRRR!!”
When these two get together, it is anything but friendly, and time is running out on prepping for the season, when the game start to actually count.
There is just this weekend, and the next, and then the games will start to matter.
So Arne Slot will look to go with a solid first team here.
Liverpool FC Starting XI Prediction vs Man United (Club Friendly)
Caominhin Kelleher; Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konate, Sepp Van den Berg, Kostas Tsimikas; Harvey Elliott, Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch; Mo Salah, Diogo Jota, Carvalho
Prediction: United 1, Liverpool 1
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.