01/08/2017 14:28, Report by Adam Higgins

So, it's almost over… Yes, after two-and-a-half weeks in the United States and a trip to Norway, the Reds will head to Ireland to conclude what has been a successful Tour 2017, presented by Aon, with a friendly clash against Italian club Sampdoria in Dublin on Wednesday, 2 August (kick-off 19:45 BST). United will be looking to round off preparations for the new campaign in style at the 51,000-seater Aviva Stadium with a sixth victory of pre-season.

How can I watch it? Fans who subscribe to MUTV on Sky or Virgin Media, the club's MUTV app or online at the recently launched mutv.com have had access to watch all of the team's pre-season games live, with no extra cost to subscribers. You can see live build-up to the Sampdoria game from 18:45 BST, an hour before kick-off, before watching the action itself.

What happened in our previous tour games? United enjoyed a 5-2 win over LA Galaxy, edged past Real Salt Lake 2-1, saw off rivals Manchester City 2-0 and beat Real Madrid on penalties following a 1-1 draw, before a narrow 1-0 defeat against Barcelona to finish the American leg of the tour. The Reds then returned to Europe for a 3-0 friendly win over Valerenga in Oslo on Sunday, courtesy of goals from Marouane Fellaini, Romelu Lukaku and Scott McTominay.

Any team news? Nemanja Matic is eligible after the Serbian completed his transfer from Chelsea on Monday, while fellow midfielders Juan Mata and Ander Herrera returned from injuries to play 45 minutes each against Valerenga. But Luke Shaw, Ashley Young and Marcos Rojo remain long-term absentees. Jose Mourinho may well utilise the full squad again for what is his final opportunity to look at his players in action ahead of next week's UEFA Super Cup against his former club Real Madrid.  

What about our opponents? Sampdoria are embarking on their sixth successive season in Italy's top flight, Serie A, and will look to improve on last season's 10th-place finish in former Empoli boss Marco Giampaolo's second season in charge. The club don't possess many household names but have a small handful of players who may be familiar to fans. Midfielders Ricky Alvarez and Filip Duricic had loan spells at Sunderland and Southampton respectively in the second half of 2014/15, while the much-travelled Italy international Fabio Quagliarella joined last year and has a wealth of experience. The Genoa-based side begin their domestic campaign against Benevento on 20 August. The sides have never met before in any capacity, so there is likely to be a lot of excitement from both sets of fans in the Irish capital.

Any connections? The friendly clash throws up a reunion with a former club for United goalkeeper Sergio Romero. The Argentinian stopper spent four years at Sampdoria before joining the Reds in 2015 and has been recalling his time in Italy ahead of the game. 

What else is coming up? Well, following the clash against Sampdoria, United face the small matter of the Super Cup against Champions League holders Real Madrid in Skopje, Macedonia, on Tuesday 8 August, before the new Premier League campaign gets under way at home to West Ham United on Sunday 13 August. Check out our league opposition profiles in our 'Countdown to 2017/18' series in the lead-up to the big kick-off.