Manchester United will travel a couple hours south, from San Diego to Los Angeles, to take on Real Betis at Snapdragon Stadium. For their sake, let’s hope they take the ultra-scenic Pacific Coast Highway/Interstate-5. You may wonder why they’re playing in San Diego, or more specifically, at Snapdragon Stadium, which only seats 35,000.
Well, just look at their shirts for this season- and focus on who the sponsor is. There’s your answer.
MUFC Tour 2024 FYIs
Manchester United vs Real Betis
Competition: club friendly
Kickoff: Wednesday July 31, 7pm PST, Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, CA, USA
MUFC Preview Content: Team News Starting XI Prediction
Buy the book: Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America
Snapdragon Stadium has a capacity about half of where they played last night, the greater Los Angeles area’s Sofi Stadium. And it’s far below half of Williams- Brice Stadium, in Columbia, South Carolina, where they’ll play Liverpool next weekend.
In terms of who manager Erik ten Hag could select for his first team on Wednesday night, the following players did make the trip to the USA, due to being on holiday, after having served their countries at the Euros or the Copa America:
Altay Bayindir, Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho, Kobbie Mainoo, Lisandro Martinez, Facundo Pellistri and Luke Shaw.
Newly minted signing Joshua Zirkzee is in the same boat. Some of them, including Zirkzee, Mainoo and Shaw, have posted some nice photos from their vacations. Everyone is expected to be back for the Community Shield against City on August 10.
Manchester United Starting XI Prediction vs Real Betis
Andre Onana; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Sam Murray; Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Mason Mount; Jadon Sancho, Amad Diallo, Marcus Rashford
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.