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Stateside Soccer: Your Guide to Premier League Summer Friendlies Pt.2

By on July 16, 2016

With Euro 2016 and the Copa America Centenario complete, the soccer world’s attention turns to the preseason preparations of the world’s biggest clubs. As nine Premier League sides venture across the pond to the United States this summer to play a total of seventeen different friendly matches, we offer our guide to the summer of soccer ahead. In Part One we looked at the schedules of Arsenal to Crystal Palace. In Part Two we analyze the plans of Leicester City to West Ham United.

Leicester City

30 July Paris St-Germain (StubHub Center, Carson, California) 11:30pm

Tickets: $40-$500

Some Premier League preseason trips this summer have been meticulously planned down to the minute.  Take Arsenal’s visit to the West Coast of the United States, which was announced in February and has been in the works for over a year.

Leicester City certainly weren’t expecting such a grandiose 2016/17 preseason tour last summer.  In fact, the club didn’t even have such a tour last year, instead choosing to remain at home and partake in multiple low-key friendlies with local opposition.

Yet Leicester were quickly added to the 2016 International Champions Cup schedule following their incredible Premier League triumph in May and will get the opportunity to face Paris Saint-Germain at StubHub Center in Los Angeles.  The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2.

Of course, their trip isn’t exclusively for show.  Coach Claudio Ranieri was involved in all of the preseason planning and is hoping to use their summer friendlies as a way for the East Midlands club to build an entirely new level of mentality in preparation for their Champions League campaign.

“I want their open minds because not many have played in Europe, against big, big teams,” said Ranieri, per the Daily Mail. “It is important because now we are fighting to go through the Champions League. It is important to start to think like a big club who everybody around the world invites…all the big teams in pre-season go around the world and that is also important to improve our minds.”

The club are currently training in Austria and will fly out to the United States after facing Celtic in Glasgow.  They will then make one more stop in Stockholm to face Barcelona before their title defense commences.

Liverpool

27 July Chelsea (Rose Bowl, Pasadena) 11.30pm

Tickets: $30-$250

Premier League giants Chelsea and Liverpool will clash in Los Angeles at the Rose Bowl in the International Champions Cup.  The game will be broadcast live on ESPN and represents Liverpool’s second time competing in the ICC, having gone all the way to the final in the 2014 edition.

They finished sixth in the Premier League last season with Jurgen Klopp at the helm since October and Klopp will seek to use his first preseason with the club to continue to drill his famous gegenpressing tactics into his team and seamlessly integrate new signings Sadio Mane and Joel Matip. That will undoubtedly include many punishing fitness sessions in the California sun.

Chelsea will be Liverpool’s first big test of the summer and their meeting will take place at the world-famous Rose Bowl, host of the 1994 World Cup final.

30 July Milan (Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara) 10pm

Tickets: $25-$275

Levi’s Stadium has hosted its fair share of international soccer in the venue’s short lifespan.  The stadium has hosted multiple International Champions Cup games since opening in 2014, including Manchester United’s victory over Barcelona last season.  Last June, Levi’s played host to five Copa America Centenario quarterfinalists in the United States, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico.

Liverpool’s clash with AC Milan will round off Levi’s summer of soccer.  The game will be another rematch of the Miracle of Istanbul, in which Liverpool game back from 3-0 down to beat Milan in the 2005 Champions League final.
Although the game is officially labeled as a “friendly” it might prove to be anything but.

1 August Roma (Busch Stadium, St Louis) 8.30pm
Tickets: $43-$158

Liverpool will conclude their tour of the United States against Italian side AS Roma in St Louis on August 1st and Klopp’s men will look to build as much confidence as possible with a victory with Arsenal first up on their Premier League fixture list.

Stoke City

27 July Orlando City (Titan Soccer Complex, Florida) 7.30pm
Tickets: ~$30

Stoke City will kick off their preseason with a friendly game against Championship side Burton Albion FC on Saturday night following a week-long training camp in Austria.  They will then face Preston North End before flying to the United States to play Orlando City FC at East Florida State College’s Titan Soccer Complex, which is the playing home of Orlando City B.

Swansea City

13 July Charlotte Independence (Ramblewood Stadium, North Carolina) 7.30pm

Swansea City kicked off their preseason tour of the United States with a 4-0 victory over the USL’s Charlotte Independence at a sold-out Ramblewood Stadium in North Carolina.

16 July Richmond Kickers (City Stadium, Virginia) 7pm
Tickets: $30-$45

Swansea City might have multiple Euro 2016 semifinalists in their squad, but they’ve begun their preseason in low-key fashion and a friendly versus the USL outfit Richmond Kickers will complete their tour of the United States.

West Ham United

6 July Seattle Sounders (CenturyLink Field, Washington)

A West Ham United team largely made up of reserve players were roundly defeated 3-0 by the Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field in Washington.

12 July Carolina RailHawks (WakeMed Soccer Park, North Carolina) 8pm

West Ham were also in North Carolina earlier this week, having drawn the NASL’s Carolina Railhawks in front of a sellout the crowd of 10,125 at WakeMed Soccer Park. They are now training in Austria as they look to build up for the Premier League season.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.