LIVERPOOL, England: Nearly a quarter of Liverpool's fans come from Asia. Thus, it is no surprise that its main sponsor, Standard Chartered Bank, is bringing the club back for yet another Asian tour.
StanChart said this will help bring the English premier league club closer to its legion of fans in the region.
"The viewing of the English Premier League around the world are so huge, and they are all in the markets in which we want to be in, that it's really not too difficult to work out, that provided Liverpool are in the Premier League, they're going to get a lot of exposure," said Gavin Laws, StanChart's Group Head of Corporate Affairs.
StanChart has not named any cities yet but Singapore and Hong Kong are seen as likely candidates, given that the two cities are important markets for StanChart.Other possibilities include cities in China, South Korea and Japan as StanChart tries to build its presence in these markets.
The last time Liverpool visited Asia was in July last year, when the team played friendly matches against the national teams of Thailand and Singapore.
Liverpool have had a disappointing start to the season and according to manager Roy Hodgson, it may take a while to turnaround.
The Reds have been struggling to pull away from the bottom half of the table but gave themselves some breathing space with a 3-0 victory over West Ham last weekend despite the absence of injured captain, Steven Gerrard.
This was their fifth win in seven matches and it is helping Liverpool edge away from the relegation zone. Liverpool currently stands at ninth spot in the English Premier League.
"I think that in the final third, you'll see a trend emerging. It will be pretty obvious that these are going to be the top four, and these are going to be the bottom three...but I don't think we're going to see that until as many as maybe 25 or even 30 matches have been played," said manager Roy Hodgson.
Meanwhile, midfielder Joe Cole is being lined up to play at this Sunday's clash against Tottenham.
"I want to get over the injury and get back playing. I'm desperate to help the team to do well," said the former Chelsea player.
A hamstring injury had put Cole out of action for a month and Liverpool hopes that this will mark the start of the climb back to the top.
-CNA/ac
as expected...they left out m'sia!!