CHELSEA will play their first pre-season friendly of the summer on Thursday, 25 July when they take on Wrexham in Santa Clara, California.
The match is one of the most anticipated friendlies of the summer due to the American connection between both clubs. Chelsea are owned by American Businessman, Todd Boehly, while Wrexham are owned by Hollywood actors, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Although the two teams are separated by two divisions in the English football pyramid, the match will be a stern test for the Blues, especially as Wrexham are two matches ahead of them in pre-season.
How the bookies view it: Chelsea are expected to win big
The bookies are clearly favouring Chelsea and their squad of highly-paid superstars for this encounter, despite several key men being unavailable due to prior international commitments. A Chelsea win has been priced at 2/9 by Betfred with a Wrexham victory priced at 15/2. The draw is considered slightly more likely than a Wrexham win and has been priced at 5/1.
Recent head-to-head: Advantage Chelsea
Chelsea and Wrexham haven't played each other in a competitive match since 1982 but they did meet this time last year in another friendly match in North Carolina. On that occasion, the Blues were rampant and put five goals past Wrexham without reply. The gap between the two clubs has shortened since, which makes a repeat result seem unlikely.
Players to watch: A potential debut for ex-Leicester man
So far, Chelsea have had a relatively quiet summer in comparison to last year but they have still managed to bring in a couple of exciting players. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is their biggest summer signing to date and he is expected to line up as a Chelsea player for the first time on Thursday.
Dewsbury-Hall was one of the best players in the Championship last season so it wasn't a huge surprise when Enzo Maresca decided to bring him with him to Stamford Bridge. The 25-year-old scored 12 goals and provided 14 assists for Leicester last season and will want to hit the ground running with his new club.
Fans in the USA will be disappointed that Wrexham's Paul Mullin is unavailable for this one. Controversial figure, James McClean, will be in action, though, and he usually guarantees drama one way or the other.
Predicted line-ups
Chelsea are missing a whole host of players for this match, including Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher due to their Euro 2024 commitments and Enzo Fernandes due to his Copa America commitments.
As already mentioned, Wrexham are without star man, Paul Mullin, for this fixture. The Welsh goal machine is recovering from a back operation and won't be ready for a few weeks.
Chelsea: Sanchez – James, Disasi, Adarabioyo, Colwill – Veiga, Dewsbury-Hall – Nkunku, Madueke, Sterling; – Guiu
Wrexham: Okonkwo – Brunt, O'Connell, Cleworth – Bolton, Jones, Evans, Cannon, McClean – Marriott, Dalby
Anything else catch the eye?
There isn't a whole lot to go off here considering Chelsea are yet to play a pre-season match and much of their first team is unavailable. However, going off last summer's 5-0 drubbing, there could be plenty of goals on Thursday. Over 3.5 goals is priced at 4/7 with Betfred.
This International Friendly match between Chelsea and Wrexham will be played on Jul 25, 2024 and kick off at 03:30. Check below for our tipsters best Chelsea vs Wrexham prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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