This week at United: Spurs, Swindon and a Super Cup

As our first-team players prepare to face Tottenham Hotspur in Shanghai, there’s lots going on elsewhere at Manchester United with two Academy games to look forward to as well.

Here’s what you can look forward to this week...

MONDAY

Our Tour 2019 squad arrives in China's biggest city, Shanghai, after a flight from Singapore where the Reds beat Inter Milan 1-0 on Saturday. The latest behind-the-scenes footage from this successful pre-season trip will be shown in The Paddy Crerand Show on MUTV, which goes on air at 18:30 BST. The first 15 minutes will be shown for free on our Official App or you can subscribe to MUTV to watch the full weekly phone-in programme, as club legend Crerand interacts with fans.

Today marks 17 years since Rio Ferdinand was signed from rivals Leeds United for what was then a British record transfer fee. The classy centre-back certainly showed his worth in a Red shirt over the following 12 seasons, establishing a legendary partnership with Nemanja Vidic and winning numerous honours including the Premier League, Champions League and Club World Cup.

TUESDAY

The Under-23s have been working hard, both at the Aon Training Complex and on the recent trip to Austria, and their pre-season preparations will continue with a friendly against Swindon Town,a side now managed by former Reds midfielder Richie Wellens. The evening match at the County Ground should provide Neil Wood’s men with a tough test ahead of the big kick-off in Premier League 2 Division Two.

Also on Tuesday, you can gain unrivalled access to everything that’s going on with the first team in Asia by watching Inside The Tour. The half-hour show from Shanghai will be screened on MUTV and for free on the Official App between 19:00 and 19:30 BST.

It’s 26 years since Paul Scholes turned professional at United. After making his full debut in September 1994, the Salford-born midfielder went on to become one of our finest ever players, scoring 155 goals in 718 matches before retiring in 2013.

WEDNESDAY

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will deliver his pre-match press conference ahead of Thursday’s International Champions Cup game against Tottenham Hotspur. You can watch it live on MUTV, as well as for free on our Official App, from 09:00 BST.

We’ll also be wishing former Reds defender Tony Dunne a happy 78th birthday. The Dublin-born defender played 535 times for United in all competitions between 1960 and 1973 and occupies eighth place on our all-time appearances list. Dunne won two Division One titles, the FA Cup and, of course, the 1968 European Cup during his time at Old Trafford.

THURSDAY

United will aim to continue our perfect start to pre-season when we travel to the Hongkou Football Stadium in Shanghai to take on Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the International Champions Cup. A Marcus Rashford goal gave us victory in our last match against Spurs in January, and the Champions League finalists should provide us with our sternest test on tour so far as we get ever closer to the start of the season.

Subscribe to MUTV to watch United v Tottenham live and keep up to date with the match blog on our Official App, which will also be showing all the pre-match build-up for free from 11:30 BST, with kick-off at 12:30 BST.

FRIDAY

While the tour squad flies home from China, our reaction to the Tottenham game will continue. Short match highlights will be shown on the Official App and website, while 20-minute and 90-minute versions will be available from MUTV's videos-on-demand service.

It’s five years to the day since we played our first-ever game in the International Champions Cup. A brace from Wayne Rooney and a Juan Mata goal secured a 3-2 win over Roma in Denver and we went on to lift the trophy in the USA with victory over arch-rivals Liverpool in Miami.

SATURDAY

We’ll open the 2019 STATSports SuperCupNI tournament in Northern Ireland with a friendly between our Under-21s side and Rangers. United have kicked off the event in previous years with games against a Northern Ireland XI and Celtic and this year’s opening fixture will begin at 17:30 BST.

Saturday also marks four years since Sergio Romero signed on a free transfer after leaving Sampdoria. The goalkeeper, who played in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final for Argentina, has kept 27 clean sheets in 45 appearances during his time at Old Trafford.

SUNDAY

The first-team squad will be stepping up preparations ahead of the trip to face Kristiansund at Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, and one member of the tour party will have particular reason to celebrate: it’s Michael Carrick’s 38th birthday! The first-team coach and former England midfielder won every major honour available to him during a stellar 12-year career at Old Trafford and is now part of Solskjaer’s set-up at United.

On this day in 2010, we beat MLS All-Stars 5-2, with new signing Javier Hernandez netting in his first appearance in a Reds shirt.