The Premier League has announced plans for a new pre-season competition hosted in the United States ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, named the Summer Series.
Six Premier League clubs will compete in the Summer Series, with Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Fulham and Newcastle United all set to play in the tournament.
Reports suggest Leeds United were initially due to take part, but, due to their precarious league position and the possibility they could be playing Championship football next season, Fulham replaced them.
But what exactly is the Premier League Summer Series? FourFourTwo takes a look.
What is the Premier League’s Summer Series tournament?
Designed to maximise commercial reach in the United States, Premier League officials were reportedly keen to ensure clubs in England's top flight regularly competed in fixtures in North America during a pre-season tournament.
Originally slated to start in 2022, organisers had to postpone the Summer Series due to issues surrounding the pandemic. It has now been confirmed, though, with the Summer Series running from July 22-30.
Five stadiums on the east coast of the USA will host matches between the six Premier League sides, including the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Orlando's Exploria Stadium, the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey and Maryland's FedExField.
Each team will play three matches and will not face the same opposition more than once. The Premier League is set to announce further information on the format, including how a winner is determined, shortly.
The full set of fixtures is detailed below.
The Athletic is reporting that Premier League officials are eager to organise more fixtures overseas, as has been done by the NFL and NBA with games in London and Paris.
The only Premier League-affiliated competition hosted outside of England was the Premier League Asia Trophy. Inaugurated in 2003, the final edition of the biennial tournament came in 2019.
Sides such as Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle have all competed in the Premier League Asia Trophy in the past, employing a knockout system in which the winners of the first matches advance to the final, while the losing teams take part in a third place playoff.
Premier League Summer Series fixtures
Saturday 22 July - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
Chelsea vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Sunday 23 July - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
Fulham vs Brentford
Newcastle United vs Aston Villa
Wednesday 26 July - Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
Brentford vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Wednesday 26 July - Exploria Stadium, Orlando
Fulham vs Aston Villa
Wednesday 26 July - Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
Chelsea vs Newcastle United
Friday 28 July - Red Bull Arena, New Jersey
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Newcastle United
Sunday 30 July - FedExField, Maryland
Aston Villa vs Brentford
Chelsea vs Fulham
