Chelsea’s pre-season tour of the United States concludes on Wednesday against Real Madrid.
It’s been a very useful trip so far for Blues head coach Enzo Maresca, who’ll still be learning about his squad following the summer arrival from Leicester City.
There’s been a mixed bag of results in pre-season so far. The Blues have been beaten by Celtic and Manchester City, drawn against Wrexham, and won against Club America. Hopefully, the players are feeling fitter and are focusing in on the Premier League opener versus Man City on 18 August.
Chelsea face Real Madrid this week before hosting Inter Milan at Stamford Bridge on Sunday in their final friendly fixture of the summer.
There’s three key things for everyone to look out for in the midweek game versus Real Madrid…
How sharp Moises Caicedo looks
Moises Caicedo, 22, was one of Chelsea’s most important players by the end of last season. Will he be fit enough to start the beginning of the 2024/25 term, though?
Unlike many midfielders in the Blues squad, he joined up late for pre-season because of his involvement in the Copa America. It means he’s only played 45 minutes of football so far under Maresca, which was last Saturday against Man City.
The latest comments from the Blues boss should at least give Caicedo some confidence. Maresca said he “loves” Caicedo as a player, as quoted by journalist Ben Jacobs on X.
However, surely the all-action central midfielder is still in a position where he’s got to prove his fitness in time for the new season. It’ll be good to keep a close eye on how he’s shaping up against Madrid this week.
Who starts at centre-back
There’s been understandable chopping and changing to the starting line-up in pre-season, but it’s less than two weeks before the Premier League opener and nobody is any closer to knowing the starting partnership at centre-back.
It’s been a mixture of Tosin Adarabioyo, Levi Colwill, Benoit Badiashile, Wesley Fofana so far in the heart of defence. For what it’s worth, Tosin and Badiashile has been the most picked combination so far, starting two out of four matches.
On top of that, Axel Disasi is another central defender to throw into contention as he’ll soon be back from injury. Speaking via Chelsea’s 5th Stand App, Disasi confirmed he’s nearly back to full training.
It was claimed via GiveMeSport back in June that Fofana and Colwill will likely be Chelsea’s defensive partnership when the new season begins. However, we’re going to need some more signs during what’s left of pre-season to be confident in that.
Which position Christopher Nkunku plays
It’s been pretty obvious from pre-season so far that Christopher Nkunku is rated by Maresca. In fact, Maresca called Nkunku a “very good fit” for his system, as quoted by journalist Ben Jacobs on X.
The 26-year-old Frenchman has started every match of the summer so far, but what’s interesting is that he’s played a couple of positions already.
Nkunku has mainly been used a bit deeper as an attacking midfielder, which is a role that allows him to get into pockets of space and show his technical quality. He did lead the line as the central striker in the previous game, though.
It’ll be a surprise if he’s missing from the starting line-up when the new season begins, but there’s definitely still question marks about where he’ll feature and the Madrid clash may help join the dots some more.
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