After narrowly beating Reading at the weekend, the Blues are chasing a third successive victory as the start of the Premier League draws near
Chelsea’s pre-season show rolls to Austria on Wednesday with a fixture against Red Bull Salzburg.
The Blues have won three of their five matches but have done so in an unconvincing manner, struggling past Reading 4-3 at the weekend, having edged Barcelona and lost to Kawasaki Frontale in a mini-tour of Japan.
Red Bull, meanwhile, have already played a couple of competitive matches this season, starting their Austrian Bundesliga season with a 2-0 win over Rapid Wien last Friday.
This will be no easy match for the Blues.
| Game | Red Bull Salzburg vs Chelsea |
| Date | Wednesday, July 30 |
| Time | 7:00pm BST / 2:00pm ET |
TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch
In the United States (US), the game can be streamed via ESPN+.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| N/A | ESPN+ |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be streamed via Chelsea’s official site or via the club’s 5th Stand app.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| N/A | Chelseafc.com / 5th Stand app |
Squads & Team News
| Position | RB Salzburg squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Stankovic, Coronel, Kohn |
| Defenders | Pongracic, Onguene, Ramalho, Van der Werff, Dembele, Ulmer, Mensah, Kristensen, Farkas |
| Midfielders | Samassekou, Szoboszlai, Junuzovic, Bernede, Mwepu, Ashimeru, Diarra, Camara, Okugawa |
| Forwards | Minamino, Haland, Hwang, Daka, Koita |
Smail Prevljak, Kilian Ludewig, Andre Ramalho and Alexander Walke are confirmed absentees.
Midfielder Diadie Samassekou is expected to return after missing out on Friday. Also coming back into the fold are Albert Vallci and Sekou Koita.
| Position | Chelsea squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Kepa, Caballero, Cumming |
| Defenders | Azpilicueta, Zappacosta, Zouma, Alonso, Christensen, Luiz, Emerson, Tomori |
| Midfielders | Kovacic, Kante, Jorginho, Drinkwater, Barkley, Bakayoko, Kenedy, Mount, Palmer, Gilmour, Pulisic |
| Forwards | Pedro, Batshuayi, Giroud, Abraham |
N’Golo Kante is not expected to restart full training until next week, and Willian is out, too. While Callum Hudson-Odoi’s return from serious injury is ahead of schedule, he remains absent. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Antonio Rudiger are also long-term absentees for the Blues.
Tammy Abraham is expected to start in attack ahead of Olivier Giroud.
Match Preview
Chelsea will play their sixth pre-season match of the summer against Red Bull Salzburg at the Red Bull Arena on Wednesday.
Frank Lampard’s side have three wins to their credit, one draw and one defeat, with their latest outing a 4-3 success over Reading on Sunday.
With a transfer ban hovering over the club, they have been forced to turn to their ranks of talented youths, with Mason Mount grabbing his chance at the Madejski Stadium by netting twice in the second half.
“The goals are going to come from different places and I want to contribute towards that from midfield,” the midfielder, who starred at Derby under Lampard last season, said. “In the final third, it’s down to us to create and play freely. I think we did that in the second half and tried to combine in and around the box. In pre-season games, it doesn’t always come off but we’re working on it in training.”
Ross Barkley is another to have shone under Lampard so far, with the former Everton man tipped to be one of those to step into the void left by the departure of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid.
He is enjoying a new, more advanced role, in the team.
“I’ve been playing a little bit further forward, so you want to think like a striker, especially a No.10, and try to help out defensively and work hard off the ball,” Barkley said.
“He will help all the midfielders. He’s a legend of the game, he’s the highest scoring midfielder in Premier League history, so we’re going to take all he has to give us from the experience he’s had, we’re going to take all that on board and we’ll keep improving and he’ll help us.
“In training, he’s saying to express yourself on the pitch, take risks, don’t be too safe, shoot and try and create chances and stuff – which I can do.”
Chelsea are still very much in the development phase of their season currently, but with just one friendly against Borussia Monchengladbach to come after this match, Lampard will want to start nailing down his starting XI.
Red Bull should provide an excellent test. They have already opened up their domestic season with league and cup matches, winning both, and with a growing European reputation will want to claim a big Premier League scalp.
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