Thomas Tuchel has confirmed the Chelsea team news to face Charlotte FC for their second game of pre-season during their tour of the United States.
Chelsea head to North Carolina to face the MLS side at the Bank of America Stadium looking to make it two wins from two following their 2-1 victory over Club America in Las Vegas at the weekend.
The results are a bonus for Chelsea, who are looking to build their match sharpness and fitness, as well as work and develop on their ideas ahead of their Premier League opener against Everton in just over two weeks.
Tuchel fielded 22 players against Club America, one side for the first half and another for the second. Now he is set to have more players available, returning from injury, as well as having new signings available.
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Billy Gilmour, Tino Anjorin, Harvey Vale and Armando Broja are no longer with the squad, while Mateo Kovacic is back fit and available for selection.
Raheem Sterling missed the win at the weekend, but Tuchel has confirmed their new number 17 (shirt number confirmed for pre-season) will be on the pitch against the American side.
"He is absolutely ready to go,” Tuchel said, when asked in his pre-match press conference about Sterling’s involvement.
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“He will be on the pitch tomorrow. He is excited to play."
Meanwhile, fellow arrival Koulibaly is unlikely to play in North Carolina, but the Chelsea head coach hasn’t made a final decision yet.
Tuchel added: "It is not decided yet. We have one more training session before we travel to Charlotte. Then it is all about the next steps. It's always like this, the focus is on our team.
"We will focus a bit more on tactical issues. The focus was on the physical input against Club America.
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“We are a bit torn. I have to speak to him to see what we do tomorrow, we will decide later. He is on a very individual programme, he trains with the team.
"As you can imagine we have players in the third week of preparation, with completely different physical foundations. It is not a good match for him to start with the team.
"I don't want to rule it out but it is very likely he will not play tomorrow.
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"I am happy because he is a calm guy and you can see his quality, leadership. He has a certain personality that you feel when he is there."
Levi Colwill could get his first outing of pre-season after missing the Club America win with an injury. His future at Stamford Bridge remains unclear, but Tuchel wants to see more of him before making a final decision, hinting he could get some minutes against Charlotte FC.
"With Levi, it is too early to give an answer,” responded Tuchel over whether Colwill is ready to play for Chelsea next season.
“What I will say now, I maybe have to take back or give another opinion in a few weeks, I simply haven’t seen enough of him in our group. He got a bit of an injury and was out of training for several days. Once you are out it takes a while to catch up against especially those who aren’t used to that level.
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"The fact he is still here is very easy. We don’t know him enough so he needs to stay here. We need more impressions of him to get a better outlook on the situation. But like what Chalobah did last season, everyone is invited to do the same."
Edouard Mendy didn’t play at the weekend - Kepa Arrizabalaga and Marcus Bettinelli were given the nod in goal, so it’s likely the Senegal international will get his first minutes of pre-season.
Featured Image Credit: Chelsea FCTopics: Chelsea, Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mateo Kovacic, Levi Colwill, Edouard Mendy, Football
