The best pre-season friendlies to watch

2022/23 is officially in the books, and our eyes are already wandering to 2023/24.

The opening of the 2023 summer transfer window has consumed our ever-shortening attention spans, but there are only so many rumours one can take in before insanity starts to creep in.

The conclusion of the international break means there’s little to enjoy on the pitch for a while, but pre-season plans are already in the books and there’s no doubt that the start of non-competitive action will roll around sharply this summer.

Once again, there are several high-profile pre-season fixtures to enjoy. Here’s information regarding eight of the most exciting.

Arsenal have a busy pre-season in store as they head back to the States for the second consecutive summer following their successful 2022 tour.

The Gunners are set to play three games along both the East and West Coast, including this bout against domestic rivals Man Utd. This will be the first time these two clubs meet in the US.

Arsenal’s US tour concludes with a friendly against Barcelona on the opposite side of the country. After facing the MLS All-Stars and United on the East Coast, they then venture off west to take on the Catalans in LA.

SoFi Stadium, home to Stan Kroenke’s LA Rams, will play host to this fixture.

Bayern Munich are determined to re-assert themselves at the summit of European football, and Man City are the side they must usurp.

The treble-winners are venturing off to the Far East this summer and they’ll take on the German behemoths, who they beat on their way to Champions League glory last sesaon, in Tokyo.

The first-ever Premier League Summer Series takes place in the US with six clubs competing for a bit of pre-season silverware.

The standout contest in the competition is, arguably, Chelsea’s clash against Newcastle in Atlanta. Blues supporters will be eager to see how Mauricio Pochettino fares in his first summer at the helm and the Magpies represent a tough test – even if it is only pre-season.

Two of the world’s most marketable clubs lock horns across the pond as Man Utd, five days after facing Arsenal, take on Real Madrid in Texas.

It’s been a while since these last two sides met, with the previous non-competitive meeting at The Big House, Michigan drew an enormous crowd of 109,318 fans – still the largest ever audience for a football match played on US soil.

There’s no such thing as a non-competitive Clasico and Barcelona will face off against bitter rivals Real in Texas this summer a year after their Vegas friendly duel, which Barça won 1-0.

The two sides will be looking to set a very early marker heading into the 2023/24 La Liga season with Real desperate to regain their crown after La Blaugrana triumphed in 2022/23.

A new-look PSG are set to take to our screens next season with Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos departing, while the futures of fellow superstars Kylian Mbappe and Neymar are foggy.

Les Parisiens are touring the Far East this summer and will take on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr before they face last season’s Champions League runners-up, Inter, in Tokyo. I Nerazzurri, who are set to undergo a mini-rebuild of their own, ended 2022/23 as one of Europe’s hottest outfits.

After facing Man City in Tokyo, Bayern round off their tour of the Far East by facing Liverpool in Singapore.

Following a disappointing 2022/23 campaign, 2023/24 is huge for Jurgen Klopp’s side. The tone will be set this summer, and this friendly, which arrives just a couple of weeks before the Premier League season starts, will help show Klopp where his side are at heading into the new season.