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Veteran sides of Man United, Liverpool and Singapore to meet here

Masters sides of Liverpool, Manchester United and Singapore to clash here again

One of the fiercest rivalries in English football - Manchester United versus Liverpool - will be played out at the National Stadium again, with the Battle of the Reds veterans' event taking place on Nov 16.

Nostalgia will reign at Kallang as the triangular tournament, which also involves a team of former Singapore internationals, bids to take fans on another trip down memory lane.

Fans will be able to watch the likes of Teddy Sheringham, Dietmar Hamann and Fandi Ahmad in action at the round-robin tournament, which will feature three 40-minute matches.

The last time the veteran sides of United and Liverpool met here at the 2015 event, Liverpool won 2-0, with goals by Luis Garcia and Hamann.

While all three teams are not new to Singapore, there will be fresh faces in this year's squads.

Making his debut in Singapore for the Liverpool Reds is former right-back and midfielder Jason McAteer, who played for the Anfield side from 1995 to 1999.

His teammates include Jerzy Dudek and John Arne Riise, who, along with Hamann, were part of Liverpool's 2005 Champions League-winning squad.

Jari Litmanen, Emile Heskey and Danny Murphy are also in this Liverpool Reds side.

McAteer, 48, said in a media release: "It'll be my first time playing at the Singapore National Stadium representing the Liverpool Reds. Singapore is an amazing place with fantastic fans and I am looking forward to meeting them all."

There are also new additions over at the former Red Devils' dressing room.

Wes Brown, who was in Singapore last month when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's charges were here for the International Champions Cup, is set to make his first appearance at the veterans' event, along with the likes of Eric Djemba-Djemba.

Said Brown: "I've just been to Singapore and seen the National Stadium, and it looks like a great place to play. The fans in Singapore really love football, so we want to put on a good match for them."

Other former Red Devils include Sheringham, who scored in the 2016 event for England Masters in a 4-2 win over the Germany Masters.

Ronny Johnsen, Mikael Silvestre, Clayton Blackmore and Keith Gillespie have also been named in the Manchester Reds squad.

Not to be outdone by the visitors, the Singapore Reds will be fielding some of the biggest names in local football such as Fandi, Aleksandar Duric, Malek Awab, Noh Alam Shah, Indra Sahdan, Lionel Lewis and Nazri Nasir.

SOLD OUT

The Singapore Masters have played Liverpool Masters twice before - in a sold-out match serving as Duric's testimonial match back in 2014, and with the Arsenal Masters in 2017.

Said Duric: "We may not be as fast as we used to be, but we still have the competitive spirit in us.

"It's going to be really exciting, especially since we're going up against Liverpool again after two years."


FYI

WHAT: Battle of the Reds 2019

WHO: Veteran teams of Manchester United, Liverpool and Singapore

WHEN: Nov 16, 7pm

WHERE: National Stadium

TICKETS: Starting from $20 (concession) to $250 (VIP), tickets go on sale from 10am today via www.sportshubtix.com.

MEET YOUR HEROES: 500 ticket-holders stand a chance to meet their football heroes at a private meet-and-greet session on Sept 22. All they have to do is leave a comment on who their favourite Liverpool, Manchester or Singapore Reds player is on Masters Football Asia's Facebook and Instagram pages.

Singapore Football