Maurizio Sarri’s side head across the Atlantic for a post-season friendly, two weeks out from the Europa League final
The New England Revolution will host Chelsea at Gillette Stadium in a friendly organised by respective team owners Robert Kraft and Roman Abramovich to help promote eradicating racism and anti-Semitism from the game, with the match being called the “Final Whistle on Hate”.
The Premier League side are bringing five youngsters with them in their 23-man squad and they will be trying to prove to Maurizio Sarri that they are worth taking a chance on, while New England’s interim boss Mike Lapper will just want to get his team back in form after losing three of their last six matches, two of which were by five goals.
The MLS side did look to make progress in their last game, beating San Jose 3-1, but their weak defence will have to put up a show of force against Chelsea.
| Game | New England Revolution vs Chelsea |
| Date | Wednesday, May 15 |
| Time | 1:10am BST / 8:10pm ET |
| Stream (US Only) | fuboTV (7-day free trial) |
In the United States (US), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Fox Sports 1 | fuboTV (7-day free trial) |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be watched live on Chelsea TV. It can be streamed via Chelsea TV Online.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Chelsea TV | Chelsea TV online |
| Position | New England squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Cropper, Knighton, Turner |
| Defenders | Anibaba, Bye, Castillo, Farrell, Mancienne, Somi |
| Midfielders | Caicedo, Caldwell, Fagundez, Firmino, Herivaux, Jones, Penilla, Zahibo |
| Forwards | Agudelo, Buchanan, Bunbury, Gil, Rennicks, Wright |
Defender, Isaac Angking is still out while he recovers from knee surgery.
Potential New England starting XI: Turner; Bye, Farrell, Anibaba, Castillo, Agudelo, Gil, Caicedo, Penilla, Fagundez, Bunbury
| Position | Chelsea squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Arrizabalaga, Caballero, Green |
| Defenders | Alonso, Zappacosta, Christensen, David Luiz, Emerson, Azpilicueta, Guehi, James, Chalobah |
| Midfielders | Hazard, Jorginho, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek, Barkley, Willian, Gallagher |
| Forwards | Pedro, Higuain, Giroud, Ugbo |
Young winger Callum Hudson-Odoi is still out with an injury, and many of Chelsea’s key players won’t play the full 90 minutes, giving the likes of Reece James and Ike Ugbo the chance to come on and show Sarri what they can do.
Potential Chelsea starting XI: Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Christensen, David Luiz, Emerson, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Barkley, Hazard, Willian, Higuain
New England are big underdogs, with Bet365 putting them at 4/1 win, with Chelsea being odds-on favourites to win at 4/9, and there are odds of 7/2 for the game to be a draw.
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Chelsea should come into this match on a high, with the Blues having secured Champions League football for next season and set up a Europa League final with London rivals Arsenal in two weeks’ time, but this has still been a bit of a rough season for the club.
Sarri’s public meltdown at goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga ignoring his orders in the Carabao Cup final, an impending transfer ban, and now the projected departure of star man Eden Hazard have really dampened the club’s season.
The timing of the friendly has also drawn the ire of Sarri, although the match was organised back in March before Chelsea knew their Europa League fate and a final appearance was only a possibility.
“As a coach, I am a little bit worried because I know very well that the team now needs rest,” said Sarri. “So it is not the best way to prepare the final. I have to look to my players, not Arsenal’s, so I know very well that my players need to rest.
“I want to speak to the physical staff, to the doctor and then we will need to prepare the programme.
“They will need three or four days of complete rest. I am not worried about the physical side so much. It is more difficult to recover mentally because, in a match like a final you spend, usually, a lot of energy and then of course your levels go down. It is not always easy for them to go up again.”
By contrast though, Chelsea have had a much better season than New England, who sit bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference. The club are undergoing major changes in coaching staff after Brad Friedel was sacked as head coach, Mike Burns sacked as general manager, Mike Lapper appointed as interim head coach, and then Bruce Arena appointed as head coach and sporting director. Arena will not start the former role immediately.
This match should see Chelsea’s forwards strike fear into the American side’s weak defence, with the likes of Oliver Giroud, Gonzalo Higuain and Willian all trying to show they should be in the Europa League final starting line-up.
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Five Blues youngsters will also be on display, and will be hoping that they can demonstrate to Sarri that they deserve playing time next season.
Don’t expect Chelsea’s key players to go the whole 90 minutes, though, as the Blues boss will want to keep injury risks to a minimum.
On the other side of the pitch, New England’s players will be trying to demonstrate to their new head coach that they are worthy of a position at the club.