Aston Villa to face Leeds in Brisbane pre-season friendly

Aston Villa and Leeds United are the latest English Premier League clubs to declare a return to pre-season travelling after the Covid pandemic, who will meet in a friendly in Australia in July.

The clubs confirmed on Thursday that they will meet on July 17 at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium as part of a three-team competition with A-league side Brisbane Roar.

Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard, whose team will be making their first journey to Australia, said, “The tour comes at a key period of our pre-season, so the fitness programme and the games are important.”

Leeds will make their third trip to Australia, having played Manchester United in Perth in 2019 before the Covid-19 outbreak struck.

“I’m very much looking forward to taking the team back for what will be an important part of our preparations for the 2022/23 season,” Leeds manager Jesse March said.

The Premier League clubs and Brisbane Roar will compete in the new Queensland Champions Cup, which was supposed to begin in 2020 but was postponed owing to the pandemic.

Brisbane Roar will face Leeds on the Gold Coast on July 14 before facing Villa in Townsville on July 20.

“We are hoping to see plenty of orange in the stands supporting Queensland’s A-League club against two of England’s finest clubs,” said the Roar’s chief executive David Pourre.

Leeds United and Aston Villa have been added to a list of high-profile football friendly matches confirmed in Asia and Australia.

When Brazil and Argentina meet for a World Cup warm-up friendly at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in June, PSG stars Lionel Messi and Neymar are set to go head-to-head.

On July 19, Liverpool and Crystal Palace will play a friendly at the same historic location.

On May 25, Barcelona will go to Australia for the first time to play an A-League All Stars team.

Quadruple-chasing Liverpool have announced friendlies against Manchester United and Crystal Palace in Bangkok and Singapore, respectively, in July.

Tottenham Hotspur will play a K-League select XI in South Korea later that month.

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