BREAKING: Chelsea finally confirm first pre-season friendly fixture for 2021/22
The Champions of Europe are back and Chelsea’s first pre-season fixture of the summer has been confirmed and they will take on Championship side Peterborough United on Saturday. This according to Football London.
However, the match is likely to be played at the Cobham training ground so will remain behind closed doors.
It will be the first match the Blues will have played since their Champions League triumph against Man City in May in Portugal when Thomas Tuchel’s side lifted the European crown.
The Posh were promoted to the Championship last season as they finished second in League One, two points behind champions Hull City in the standings.
Tuchel will have a very experimental squad to choose from with none of his international players, who make up a vast majority of his first team squad, available to him.
He currently has 29 players around, so not an insignificant number by any stretch, and it will be the first match chance for some players to state their case for inclusion in the Premier League squad.
Ross Barkley returned to the training ground on Tuesday for his first involvement with the main group. Other senior stars including Edouard Mendy, Kepa, Hakim Ziyech, Christian Pulisic, Marcos Alonso, Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi will be available to Tuchel.
There will also be a chance for some youngsters to get involved and push their own claims such as Marc Guehi, Conor Gallagher, Dujon Sterling, Armando Broja and injury-hit Charly Musonda, who has also returned to training for pre-season.
Chelsea will head to a training camp in Ireland for a week within the next fortnight where they are expected to play another friendly match before returning to London for more training and to compete in The Mind Series triangular tournament.
The Blues take on Arsenal at the Emirates on August 1 before hosting Spurs three days later at Stamford Bridge, with the club announcing on Tuesday that they expect a near capacity crowd for the game in SW6.