Newcastle, who defeated Scottish giants Rangers in the 2019 final, will also face hosts Hong Kong Football Club and the Hong Kong Football Club Captain’s Select in group C.

Aston Villa, who have won the tournament a record six times, will play Rangers in group A, as well as Tai Po FC and the Yau Yee League Select.

“We are thrilled the tournament is resuming after the challenges brought on by the pandemic over the last three years,” said Tony Bratsanos, chairman of the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens Organising Committee.

“We can’t wait to see the stars of the future in action at the Hong Kong Football Club once more.”

Group D will feature Premier League dup Brighton & Hove Albion, and Wolverhampton Wanderers, as well as Hong Kong and Singapore Cricket Club.

Another Premier League club, Fulham, feature in group B alongside Hong Kong champions Kitchee, MUST CPK, and Singapore Football Club.

The top two teams in each group will progress to the Cup quarterfinals, with the losing teams in the last eight stage dropping into the Shield. The bottom two sides in the group phase, meanwhile, will participate in the Plate.

The Magpies are flying high in third place in the Premier League this season, but it is a two-horse title race with Arsenal and Manchester City looking set to go down to the wire.

The 56-year-old Ferdinand, now director of football at Championship side Queens Park Rangers in the English second tier, said he believed City will ultimately triumph, and saw similarities to the 1995-96 title race when he played for Newcastle.

That season, Newcastle established a 12-point lead over Manchester United in January but at the end it was the latter who lifted the championship.

“It’s really funny,” Ferdinand said, speaking before Thursday morning’s (Hong Kong time) pivotal clash between the two sides. “When I look at Arsenal and Arsenal are in the same predicament at Newcastle when I was there.

“They are in front and looking like they would win it. We had Manchester United chasing us and Arsenal have Manchester City. I am seeing similarities in where that is at the moment.

“Two months ago, it was in Arsenal’s hands and now it is with Manchester City. That’s the reason we love the Premier League because it is so unpredictable. And because I am from the other side of North London, I have to say Manchester City.”

Ferdinand also had high praise for City striker Erling Haaland and said he believed the goal scoring prowess of the Norwegian, coupled with Harry Kane’s continued brilliance at another of his former clubs, Tottenham Hotspur, has helped bring back the glory days of centre forwards in England.

“For a number of years, we have gone away from a traditional centre forward because of what Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have done,” Ferdinand, who is the 11th highest scorer in the Premier League history with 149 goals, said.

“Everyone wants to be the No 10 and wants to play behind the striker and so, we were running out of strikers.

“But now with Haaland coming to the front and scoring the goals that he has scored, we have produced another set of strikers and hopefully we will get a few more No 9s.

“In fact, if you look at what Haaland has achieved so far this season, you can only see Manchester City getting better and you don’t see them getting worse. If they get better, he is going to score more goals.

“When you look at his age and depending on how long he stays in the Premier League as there will be a lot of teams trying to catch him. If he stays in the Premier League, I have no doubt he will be breaking all the goalscoring records.”