Chelsea will be aiming to bounce back from weekend’s Community Shield defeat to Arsenal when they host Italian club Fiorentina in an international Champions Cup 2015 match at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening.
This will be Blues’ last game before they start their Premier League title defence campaign against Swansea City at home this Saturday. They began their preseason campaign with a 4-2 loss to New York Bulls before defeating French champions Paris Saint-Germain on penalty shootout following a goalless draw.
They also defeated Barcelona on penalties following a 2-2 draw but suffered 1-0 loss at the hands of the Gunners in the in Community Shield clash at Wembley on Sunday– their first competitive game in 2015-16 season.
And Fiorentina clash provides Chelsea boss Mourinho another opportunity to experiment and figure out a right combination ahead of the new campaign.
Fiorentina, on the other hand, will be highly-confident for the midweek clash after comfortably beating European Champions Barcelona on Sunday.
They suffered a 4-2 defeat to PSG in their opening preseason game but bounced back to win their two games – having beaten Portuguese champions Benfica on penalties and Barca with 2-0 scoreline thanks to a brace from Federico Bernardeschi.
Team News:
The fitness of Diego Costa, who limped off against Barca last week because of a hamstring injury, will be a concern for Mourinho. If the Spain international recovered in time for the clash, he is expected to start on the bench, which means Kurt Zouma could return to starting XI.
Cesc Fabregas, Willian, Eden Hazard and Asmir Begovic are all expected to retain their spots for the clash.
Fiorentina’s recently-appointed head coach Paulo Sousa, meanwhile, is unlikely to tinker much with the team that defeated Barca.
Head-to-Head:
This will be the first-ever meeting between the two clubs in any format.
Possible Starting Line-Up:
Chelsea:
Ivanovic, Zouma, Begovic; Matic, Terry, Hazard, Oscar, Fabregas; Azpilicueta; Willian; Falcao
Fiorentina:
Roncaglia, Rodriguez, Tatarusanu; Babacar, Joaquin; Bernardeschi, Pasqual, Valero; Rebic, Tomovic; Suarez,
Chelsea must win this game 2 let fan happy