Chelsea are back in action on Sunday and Saturday if you are watching in the United States as the club play their first friendly of pre-season. The club are on tour in the United States as participants in the FC Series and will play three games during their time in the country. After a week of training in Los Angeles the squad left for Las Vegas to play their first game against Mexican side Club América.
Thomas Tuchel and Todd Boehly have bought Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly during the transfer window so far. These two players are quality additions to the squad and are instant starters. More players are expected to sign for the club but these initial pre-season games are a good opportunity for the returning loanees and academy players to impress.
Several of the players involved could of course leave the team by the time the transfer window ends. The main principle is to focus on the young players and see how they do and not worry about the more established players who are guaranteed to be in the squad come deadline day. A more detailed preview of the season will come a week before the game against Everton but for now it’s a simple game preview.
Chelsea Team Preview
N’Golo Kanté and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were left in England because of their covid vaccine status. Armando Broja suffered a minor injury and probably won’t feature. Kalidou Koulibaly only reached Las Vegas yesterday and while he has been announced he has not yet trained and won’t feature. Raheem Sterling had a few training sessions and we might catch a glimpse but he probably won’t start the game. I expect their to be plenty of rotation and rather than saying who could start I will mention the players to keep an eye on.
As far as goalkeepers are concerned Edouard Mendy will feature and while Kepa could play I still expect him to leave before the transfer window closes. Marcus Bettinelli and Teddy Sherman-Lowe are also available.
In defence it will be interesting to see whether Tuchel plays a back three or back four. Ben Chilwell is back and has trained for several weeks now. It will be interesting to see how he has recovered from his injury last season. Levi Colwill is the other player to keep an eye on at centre-back and hopefully he does feature.
In midfield, Ethan Ampadu, Billy Gilmour, and Conor Gallagher are all players that are looking to impress Tuchel. Gallagher should be staying for next season so it is more the first two that are fighting for a place in the squad. Ampadu especially could have a key role as a utility player in the team. Tino Livramento is also with the squad and it will be good to catch a glimpse of him although he will probably leave on loan.
In attack bar Romelu Lukaku there have been no major departures. Everyone will be hoping to get 10-15 minutes of Raheem Sterling but there are others looking to impress. It is a big season for Hudson-Odoi and he looks like has bulked up. Harvey Vale had a good summer with England’s youth team and with one year left on his contract will want to feature. Apart from them the whole attack from last season needs to play better for the team to finish higher.
Staring XI Prediction
This lineup is a total guess but expect several other returning loan players to feature like Emerson, Batshuayi, along with Barkley and others. Pre-season is all about fitness and the results aren’t important but as mentioned before focus on the younger and returning loan players that are looking to impress. Can’t wait COME ON CHELSEA!!!