Festival of Football 2023: How to watch on TV, fixtures & teams involved

TEG Sport billed the generically-named Festival of Football as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness world-class football in Singapore".

While that lofty lead-in says plenty about the dim view the Australian events company has of the nation's top flight, there is little doubt that the upcoming pre-season tournament between representatives from the Premier League, Serie A and the Bundesliga serves as an upgrade on the likes of Lion City Sailors and Tampines Rovers.

Here's everything you need to know about the much-hyped footballing festival.

When is the Festival of Football 2023?

The Festival of Football kicks off on 26 July 2023, towards the end of pre-season schedules for Europe's elite. The mini-tournament will be wrapped up by 2 August 2023, more than a week before the Premier League or Serie A returns and with a fortnight gap until the start of the 2023/24 Bundesliga season.

Most of the clubs involved will have already contested at least one pre-season friendly before entering the Singapore-based festival.

Where is the Festival of Football 2023?

All three matches for the mid-summer mini-jamboree will take place in the Singapore National Stadium. The 55,000-seater venue is in Kallang, a five-minute drive away from the famous Formula 1 night race track in Marina Bay.

The stadium has already hosted some of Europe's elite, with Juventus opening the ground against a select Singapore XI in 2014. Just last summer, Premier League clubs Liverpool and Crystal Palace attracted more than 50,000 spectators for a friendly which the Reds won 2-0.

Which teams are involved in the Festival of Football 2023?

With bookings for the tournament made months, if not years, ago, the five "renowned teams" which will grace the competition all struggled during the 2022/23 campaign.

Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich are the only competing club which finished higher than fifth in their domestic league. However, Thomas Tuchel was drafted in after Julian Nagelsmann's mid-season sacking and only snatched the German title thanks to Borussia Dortmund's final-day spluttering.

Liverpool and Roma could only qualify for the Europa League while Tottenham missed out on European football entirely for the first time in 14 seasons. Leicester will try to fulfil the brief of "world-class football" as a Championship team after the Foxes were relegated from the Premier League in May.

Festival of Football 2023 fixtures

While it may be an underwhelming selection of clubs based solely on last season's performances, the Festival of Football doesn't lack for intriguing subplots.

The tournament kicks off with a meeting between Jose Mourinho's Roma and Tottenham. Mourinho never shirks the opportunity to throw a jab in the direction of Daniel Levy after the Spurs chairman sacked him before the 2021 Carabao Cup final. As recently as May, Mourinho revealed that he had "deep feelings" for all of his former employers - except Tottenham.

Unlike the rest of the Premier League, Liverpool will not miss out on the chance to face Championship-bound Leicester. The Foxes begin their assault on England's second tier a week after duking it out with Liverpool, hosting Coventry City seven time zones away in the King Power Stadium.

Jurgen Klopp's side conclude the mini-competition against a Bayern team managed by a familiar foe.

Klopp and Tuchel - two graduates from the modern school of German pressing - have met in 19 competitive matches over the last seven years - with the Liverpool boss coming out on top 11 times.

How to watch on TV & live stream Festival of Football 2023

How to watch Tottenham v Roma

How to watch Liverpool v Leicester

How to watch Liverpool v Bayern Munich

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