The last round wasn’t the toughest for Ajax, and they would be hoping to continue their push for a place in the group stage by eliminating their Belgian host in this round. Standard Liege are returning to this competition after a four years absence, they would be keen on getting a good first-leg advantage to take to Holland. Liege do not measure up to the standard of Ajax in terms of European reputation, and they would have to be at their best to eliminate the Dutchmen, however, Ajax have struggled in Europe in recent times. They were eliminated from the Champions League and Europa League in a matter of days last season, they would want to avoid such a shameful scenario here again. Ajax last met Standard in 2016 on their way to the Europa League final, drawing 1-1 in a trip here during the group stage. Standard have won one of their last eight Champions League games.

Just a few months ago, these two teams faced each other in what would turn out to be one of the most thrilling comebacks in Champions League history. Barcelona defeated AS Roma 4-1 in their Champions League quarterfinals first leg. The return leg in Rome looked like a formality with Romans needing to win by at least 3 unreplied goals. They did just that, they stunned the world by beating Barcelona 3-0 in front of their home fans to reach the Champions League semifinal. This game offers Barcelona the chance to get revenge, but with most of their star men still on break, it would be a tough ask. The Spaniards started their International Champions Cup campaign with a  2-2 draw and a penalty win over Spurs. With most of their first team players still unavailable, it was new boy Arthur who led the way with a stunning strike, Malcom would go on to score the winning penalty, having changed his mind from joining Roma at the last minute, the former Bordeaux man has a point to prove in this game. Roma has one of the strongest squads in this competition. The likes of Edin Dzeko, Ante Coric and Justin Kluivert are available for them. Their first match was also against Tottenham, and they took an early lead through Patrik Schick. But they ultimately capitulated and were beaten 4-1, thanks to a brace each from Lucas Moura and  Fernando Llorente. Roma would still be with the same players that were demolished by Tottenham and it would be interesting to see if they would play better in this game.

Chelsea and Arsenal are entering a new era and both of their new managers would be looking to earn early bragging rights in this game. The Gunners allowed Arsene Wenger to leave this summer after 22 years at the helm and brought in Unai Emery who has been very successful with Sevilla and PSG in the past four seasons. The Spaniard has been lucky to have most of his star men available for preseason after they either failed to qualify or crashed out of the competition in the early stages. The likes of Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette, and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang have been available so Emery would be working with his strongest squad for this game. Chelsea have also had a change of managers this summer. The Blues have made Maurizio Sarri their new manager and the Italian has started his reign well. He has also had the luxury of having most of his star men to work with, the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Jorginho, Marcos Alonso have all been in their preparations for the new season. In their two friendlies before this time, they have shown some signs of excitement, and Sarri’s team would only get better as the season starts.

This season is already turning to be one of turbulence at Manchester United even though the league season is still two weeks away. Jose Mourinho has now been made the first manager to be sacked as his continues to moan about a lack of signings whenever he has the chance to. The Red Devils have not had the ideal preparation for the new season. Most of their star players are still on a break following their participation at the World Cup, while they have struggled in all their preseason matches so far and have won none of their friendlies in regulation time. The Red Devils were beaten 4-1 by Liverpool the last time out and they would be looking to avoid such an embarrassing loss in this game again, but do they have the power to stop the European Champions? Real Madrid would be playing a match for the first time without Cristiano Ronaldo on their team sheet since 2009, and Julen Lopetegui would be hoping other stars like Isco and Gareth Bale would step up and take them forward. Los Blancos have not played any friendly until now, but they seem prepared for the task ahead. Vinicius Junior has joined up with the club, and the Brazilian prodigy is set to play a starring role for them this season, while the likes of Dani Cabelos would be looking to impress their new manager.

This Tuesday Brazilian Serie A fixture sees Internacional face Ceara, they home team are expected to have an easy day at the office and get all three points with little to no troubles. As a newly promoted side, Internacional have been very impressive and they look very likely to finish this season in at least the Copa Libertadores spot. After 13 games, they currently sit 5th on the league table with 23 points ahead of this match. This game offers them the chance to build on their very strong position. Their first game after the World Cup break ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw against Athletico PR, that result means that they have not lost any of their last 9 games and they would be very confident of getting a home win here. Ceara, on the other hand, returned from the break to pick up their first win of the season following a 1-0 win over Sports Recife. Despite claiming all three points in that game, they are still in huge trouble and enter this game six points off the pace in their battle to escape relegation this season.

These teams would be looking forward to a great season in the Premier League with Manchester City looking to defend their crown while Liverpool would be looking to win their first title in more than 25 years. The Reds have played five preseasons already and they had won three and drew one before facing Borussia Dortmund in their last match on Sunday. They went ahead on the 25th minute through a Virgil van Dijk header, however, a much-changed Liverpool side failed to kick on in the second half and they succumbed to a 3-1 loss, in the end, they would be looking for their first win in the International Cup in this game. Pep Guardiola is without his World Cup stars, and the Cityzens had the most players of any European side in the World Cup last four, so it was understandable when they were beaten 1-0 by Borussia Dortmund in their first game of this preseason tournament. However, with the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Leroy Sane in this group, Pep would be looking for his first win in his last four games against Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool have won three of their last four meetings with Manchester City.

Liverpool have had their most successful transfer window in a long time and the Reds would be looking to show how prepared they are for the new season when they kick-start their International Champions Cup games with this match. They have played four domestic preseason games already. They beat Chester 7-0, Tranmere 3-2 before ending their 3rd game against Bury 0-0. Their last preseason game before this match ended in a 2-0 win for them courtesy of goals from Daniel Sturridge and Lazar Markovic. With the addition of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, Liverpool have a stronger team than the one that played the domestic friendlies and Jurgen Klopp would be looking to gel the duo with his new midfield combination of Fabinho and Naby Keita. Borussia Dortmund have also made a good start under new manager Lucien Favre. They have played and won two friendlies, the last of which was their 1-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday morning. They are also without some players who played at the World Cup, but the team still has the likes of Mario Gotze and Christian Pulisic who did not play at the World Cup so they would be looking to hurt Liverpool and get one over their former boss.  

This game is one of the biggest games of the weekend in the Brazilian Serie A as Palmeiras take on their big rivals, we expect a lot of actions at both ends of the pitch. Palmeiras should be gunning for the title this season but their recent run of form would not do their aspirations any good. They played two consecutive draws before the league went on break, and they returned from their break with yet another 1-1 draw against Santos in their last league game. They need to start getting the wins else pressure would start building and playing under pressure would not be good for them. Mineiro on their path were doing very well before the break, but the break seems to have taken that good form off them as they resumed with a 2-0 loss to Gremio the last time out. They made a couple of signings in the past month and the new players may need some time to gel, but they come into this game in the 3rd position which is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. Both games between the two last season ended in draws. Remarkably, Palmeiras haven’t beaten Atletico Mineiro since a 3-2 win back in 2011.

France have reached the World Cup finals exactly 20 years after they last won it, while Croatia have reached the finals exactly 20 years after France stopped them in the semifinals and we expect them to have revenge on their minds when they take to the field in this game. The French team struggled to come out of the group stage and scored more than one goal in only their first group game against Australia. They, however, got better in the knockout round and eliminated Argentina 4-3 in the last 16. They also defeated Uruguay in the quarterfinals before taking in on Belgium in the semifinals. The semifinals was a cagier affair and they won the impressive Belgians 1-0 after 90 minutes. They were more defensive in that game and they would be facing a Croatian side that has enough midfielders to unlock any defence, it would be interesting to see how Didier Deschamp would set up his team for this game. Kylian Mbappe has been the star of this French side and this game offers him the chance to show the world just how good he is. Croatia have survived Extra time in all of their knockout games so far and they would be showing the French team and the world just how resilient they are. They are the only team who have won all their games until this final after they beat Nigeria, Argentina, Iceland, Denmark, Russia and England to get to this final and they would be looking to win the competition in style by getting yet another win. Ivan Perisic was their hero in the semifinals and he would be key to their attacking play here, however, Luka Modric is also having a great competition and he could be named the World Footballer of the Year if the Croatians triumph in this game.