Welcome to the final preseason friendly of the US Tour, as Chelsea take on Bundesliga runners-up, Borussia Dortmund. Presumably this will be slightly less dramatic than the last time we faced them, which was the highpoint of last season.
This time the focus will be on starting our final preparations for the season ahead rather than engineering a delightful comeback in the Champions League, though we still have ten days to go until our first game so there’s room for experimentation and rotation.
There is some concern about the pitch, which was trampled by tens of thousands during the Ed Sheeran concert over the weekend (as well as the Beyoncé concerts the weekend before), but it looks like we’re playing.
Here we go!
Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1):
Arrizabalaga | Chilwell, Colwill, Silva, James | Gallagher, Enzo | Nkunku, Chukwuemeka, Sterling | Jackson
Substitutes from: Slonina, Bergstrom, Chalobah, Humphreys, Cucurella, Gusto, Maatsen, Santos, Ugochukwu, Casadei, Angelo, Moreira, Hall, Mudryk
Borussia Dortmund starting XI:
Meyer | Bensebaini, Ozcan, Reus, Hummels, Moukoko, Sabitzer, Malen, Sule (c), Ryerson, Adeyemi
Substitutes from: Kirsch, Nmecha, Haller, Hazard, Wolf, Brandt, Can, Pohlmann, Bueno, Papadopoulos, Bamba, Bueno, Blank
Date / Time: Wednesday, August 2, 2023, 8:30pm EDT; 1:30am BST (next day); 6am IST (next day)
Venue: Soldier Field, Chicago, IL, USA
On TV: ESPNU (USA); Viaplay Sports 1 (UK); none? (India); SuperSport Premier League (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: ESPN+ (USA); Viaplay UK (UK); none? (India); DStv Now (NGA); Chelsea 5th Stand App, website (international where no rights holders exist)