Thai-owned Leicester City, who are fighting to stay in the Premier League, will play Tottenham Hotspur in Bangkok in July, in one of a series of top-flight European football exhibition matches that will take place across Asia.
Leicester currently sit 19th in the English top flight, following a 3-0 loss to Liverpool on Monday night. With only two matches left, they will need at least one victory — and some luck in the form of losses by other strugglers — to avoid being relegated.
The friendly on July 23 in Bangkok will be played at Rajamangala National Stadium, the club announced on its website.
This season has been a big disappointment for Leicester, owned by Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha of King Power duty-free fame. They shocked the football world by winning the Premier League title in 2015-16 but have been unable to replicate that form since.
European giants Manchester City, Liverpool and Bayern Munich will also travel to Asia this summer for after a raft of fixtures around the continent.
Pep Guardiola’s City, who are on the cusp of retaining their Premier League crown, will play his former side Bayern and Japanese champions Yokohama F Marinos in friendlies in Tokyo.
City will face Marinos on July 23 before taking on Bayern three days later, with both games taking place at Tokyo’s National Stadium.
Bayern will also play the J-League side Kawasaki Frontale before travelling to Singapore to take on Liverpool on Aug 2.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool will play two games in the city state, also squaring off against Leicester on July 30.
Tottenham Hotspur, who should have a new manager by then, will travel to Australia, Thailand and Singapore.
Spurs, who are still searching for a full-time manager to replace Antonio Conte, will face West Ham in Perth on July 18, before travelling to Bangkok to play Leicester on July 23.
They round their tour off with a game against former coach Jose Mourinho’s Roma in Singapore on July 26.
Newly crowned Spanish champions Barcelona are also coming to Asia.
They face Andres Iniesta’s Vissel Kobe in Tokyo on June 6, just days after they complete their league season.
Scottish champions Celtic also visit Japan this summer, taking on coach Ange Postecoglou’s former team Marinos in Yokohama on July 19.
