Chelsea vs. Wrexham, Preseason friendly: Preview, team news, how to watch

07/24/2024 03:04 AM

Preseason begins

Rarely, if ever, have I passed up an opportunity to watch Chelsea, even in just a preseason friendly, without having to hop on a plane. But I'm swerving this one. Whether it's apathy, the midweek date, Bay Area traffic, the ticket ($100+) and parking ($50) prices, Levi's on a roasting hot summer's day, or the absence of the usual crew, I'll be sitting at home and watching on the telly instead.

That's not to say that I'm not looking forward to watching the boys back in action. But I'm not quite feeling the vibes just yet.

Date / Time: Wednesday, July 24, 7:30pm PDT; 3:30am BST (next day); 8am IST (next day)
Venue: Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, CA, USA
Forecast: It's been one of the hottest summers on record in California, with temperatures spiking above 110°Fin the Central Valley and well above 90°F even in The Bay.

On TV: ESPN (USA); none (UK); elsewhere
Streaming: ESPN+ (USA); Chelsea TV (int'l pay-per-view)

Chelsea team news: Twenty-eight players traveled and another has joined already, with Moisés Caicedo showing up earlier today as well. Others, like Enzo Fernández, Cole Palmer, Marc Cucurella, or Đorđe Petrović are not expected to arrive until later this week — the first three after their international duties, the latter following an injury.

So that's going to be over 30 players on tour once again, and that's despite leaving the likes of Trevoh Chalobah, Cesare Casadei, Alfie Gilchrist, DD Fofana, and Deivid Washington at home. New signing Omari Kellyman has also stayed behind, nursing some sort of injury.

As this is just a preseason friendly, the main goal will be to start building match fitness. Maresca's expected tactical system, with the inverted fullback on one side, will probably make an appearance as well.

"In these weeks, we try different situations [with inverting]. We try [Reece] James inside. I watched his games [for Wigan Athletic on loan] against, I don't remember now, he was playing as a midfielder. Malo [Gusto] is trying to do that. Marc [Cucurella] can do that. We will try different situations."

-Enzo Maresca; source: Football.London

Wrexham team news: For the second successive summer, Chelsea begin our preseason slate of friendlies against lower-league Wrexham AFC, though they are now slightly less lower-league than twelve months after earning back-to-back promotions under the ownership of Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds. This will be their third preseason friendly already, and second against a Premier League team: they held AFC Bournemouth to a 1-1 draw in Santa Barbara, CA over the weekend.

Wrexham also have a large supporter base in the States thanks to their Hollywood owners and the successful docuseries on Hulu, "Welcome to Wrexham", though this game will likely still not sell out. The team's biggest star, Paul Mullin won't be there either, having undergone a "minor spinal surgery" a few weeks ago. That's a scary phrase!

The Red Dragons did sign goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo from Arsenal this summer (he was there on loan already last year), and added a few more fresh faces, including midfielder George Dobson, another former Arsenal youth product. Premier League veterans Steven Fletcher and (captain) James McClean are still there as well.

Previously: Chelsea won last year's meeting at a canter, 5-0.