Man City vs Liverpool is just one of SIX huge games on Thursday

Football teams are currently preparing themselves for another long season of action and, while fitness drills and tactical sessions play an important part in preparations, there is nothing quite like getting out on the pitch.

That is why pre-season tournaments like the International Champions Cup are used by the biggest teams across the globe to hone their development and get match-ready.

Thursday night will see expected Premier League title rivals Manchester City and Liverpool square off in New York but that is just one of SIX matches involving some of the game's biggest teams. Sportsmail has looked at every game, each team's preparations so far and how the  tournament is shaping up.

Manchester City vs Liverpool - 1am BST - MetLife Stadium, New Jersey

Watching domestic rivals go head to head in a pre-season friendly is not a sight that sits easy with most fans of the Premier League but there is no escaping the commercial clamour to watch Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp battle it out stateside.

Many expect these two to be front runners in the Premier League title race next season with City set to build on their dominant campaign last season and Liverpool recruiting well in the transfer market.

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane could feature for the Reds after returning from their World Cup campaigns but it may come too soon for new signing Xherdan Shaqiri. City still have a number of first team players absent but Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez will play.

Both teams lost their first game of the tournament against Borussia Dortmund and will want to set a marker down ahead of the new Premier League campaign.

AC Milan vs Manchester United - 4am BST - StubHub Center, California

United's pre-season friendlies have so far been less than entertaining and Jose Mourinho remains without a number of key players because of the World Cup.

The Red Devils drew 1-1 with Club America before playing out a dreary 0-0 against the San Jose Earthquakes and both matches were played in front of relatively sparse crowds.

Mourinho has been boosted by the returns of David de Gea, Fred and Nemanja Matic but the Serbian is the only one expected to be involved in this game.

This will be the first game for both teams in the tournament and AC Milan have a relatively strong squad on the West Coast. Veteran defender Leonardo Bonucci is expected to play some part as well as the likes of Suso and Hakan Calhanoglu.

Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal - 12:30pm BST - Singapore National Stadium, Singapore

It has not been too long since these two teams battled it out in the Europa League semi-finals but a lot has changed for the Gunners since then.

Arsene Wenger has left and new boss Unai Emery is drilling his ideas and tactics into his  players ahead of their opening league game against Manchester City. They have played just one friendly so far, an 8-0 drubbing over Boreham Wood, and this will represent the first real test under their new manager.

Atletico progressed in that semi-final tie and went on to win the Europa League and Diego Simeone will be hoping his team can launch an attack on Barcelona and Real Madrid next season.

World Cup hero Antoine Griezmann remains absent, as does Diego Godin and the members of Spain's World Cup squad, but there are some big names still involved including Jan Oblak and Angel Correa.

Roma vs Tottenham - 3am BST - SDCCU Stadium, San Diego

Mauricio Pochettino is probably the manager whose pre-season work has been affected most by the World Cup. He is without a number of stars from his large English contingent to defensive duo Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld.

It means he has travelled to the US with a squad containing a large number of young stars and fringe players with the odd exception such as Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min.

Eriksen and Davinson Sanchez were both knocked out early on in the knockout stages of the World Cup so it remains to be seen what part they will play in California. It does mean the likes of Erik Lamela, Fernando Llorente and Lucas Moura have a chance to impress their manager though.

Roma are fortunate to have a particularly strong squad back in training already and could be underdogs to win the tournament. Edin Dzeko, Kostas Manolas and new signing Javier Pastore are all in contention to play.

Juventus vs Bayern - 12am BST - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia

Bayern made a flying start to their International Champions Cup campaign when they beat PSG 3-1 in Klagenfurt on Saturday.

New boss Niko Kovac doesn't have a full compliment of first-team stars but still has a talented bunch at his disposal nonetheless. The likes of Arjen Robben, David Alaba and Kingsley Coman all played in that victory while Swansea flop Renato Sanches scored as he bids to resurrect his career.

Juventus, meanwhile, are also without a number of key attacking players in the US but can still name a strong team. Argentine duo Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala are missing but the likes of Giorgio Chiellini, Miralem Pjanic and Alex Sandro are all ready for action.

New signing Emre Can is also continuing his integration into the squad following his arrival on a free transfer from Liverpool earlier this summer.

Borussia Dortmund vs Benfica - 1am BST - Heinz Field - Pittsburgh

With a record of played two, won two so far Dortmund are already the firm favourites to win the competition. Lucien Favre's side have beaten both City and Liverpool in the US and will take on Benfica full of confidence of making it a third.

Impressive performances from their very own American gem Christian Pulisic have led to more transfer speculation but Favre will be impressed with what he has seen from his young team so far.

This tournament is merely a stepping stone to bigger things for Benfica, who have a difficult Champions League qualifier against Fenerbahce to look forward to in two weeks' time.

The Portuguese side have already beaten Sevilla in a friendly and will arguably be the team already best prepared for the upcoming season in the tournament.