Arsenal have been drawn against debutants FC Bayern Munich, defending champions FC Porto and Reading in their first Premier League International Cup campaign, with the fixtures announced on Friday.
In their Group E opener, Steve Gatting’s Gunners face Porto, who defeated Sunderland 5-0 in front of more than 18,000 fans at the Stadium of Light to win the trophy in May.
Newcastle United, the other debutants from Premier League 2 in a competition consisting of 12 English Under-23 teams and 12 equivalent sides from top European Academies, meet Liverpool, Sparta Praha and PSV Eindhoven in Group A.
Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United return to the competition after an absence of one and two seasons respectively, and they will meet at Stevenage FC in the first fixture of the 2017/18 campaign, on 31 August 2017.
Villarreal CF, winners of the competition in 2015/16, and SL Benfica join Spurs and West Ham in Group F.
Legia Warsaw, from Poland, are the other new side in the tournament. They face Sunderland, Leicester City and Hertha BSC.
The six group winners and the two best runners-up will advance to the quarter-finals, with knockout ties decided by one-off matches, which will go to extra-time and penalties if required.
2017/18 PL International Cup Groups
Group A: Sparta Praha, Liverpool, Newcastle United, PSV Eindhoven
Group B: Hertha BSC, Legia Warsaw, Leicester City, Sunderland
Group C: Derby County, GNK Dinamo Zagreb, Everton, VfL Wolfsburg
Group D: Athletic Club Bilbao, Celtic FC, Manchester United, Swansea City
Group E: Arsenal, FC Bayern Munich, FC Porto, Reading
Group F: SL Benfica, Tottenham Hotspur, Villarreal CF, West Ham United
