Chelsea face Udinese in pre-season and the confirmed team news is in from the Dacia Arena in Udine.
It's their final game of pre-season before the 2022/23 Premier League season gets underway next weekend when Chelsea head to Goodison Park to face Everton.
Thomas Tuchel has taken a 28-man squad out to Italy to play the Serie A side with the Blues expected to give many players 90 minutes under their belt to take their match sharpness up a level.
Mason Mount confirmed pre-match that the Blues would get a full tank of minutes, admitting: "It will be good to get a full 90 minutes under the belt so I’m looking forward to it."
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He added: “It’s a game we’re going to use to gain more physical involvement and improvement but you also want to win and that’s what we want, to get back on that road to winning."
Tuchel will be keen to see a reaction from his side following their 4-0 thrashing by Arsenal in Orlando last week, a game where the Chelsea boss slammed the commitment of many of his players.
Here is the confirmed team news from Italy as Chelsea take on Udinese.
Udinese
Starting XI: Silvestri, Benkovic, Bijol, Masina, Soppy, Pereyra, Wallace, Makengo, Udogie, Success, Deulofeu
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Bench: Padelli, Piana, Festy, Lovric, Abankwah, Nuytinck, Perez, Palumbo, Ebosse, Samardzic, Nestorovski, Pussetto, Guessand, Cocetta, Pafundi
Chelsea
Starting XI: Mendy; Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, Koulibaly, James, Kante, Jorginho, Alonso, Mount, Havertz, Sterling
Bench: Kepa, Emerson, Kenedy, Gilmour, Hudson-Odoi, Vale
Edouard Mendy starts in goal for Chelsea in Italy, with Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva and Kalidou Koulibaly starting in the defence.
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Reece James and Marcos Alonso occupy the wing-back roles, while Jorginho and N'Golo Kante have been given the role of starting in central midfield.
Mason Mount, Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling have been given the nod in attack as Tuchel gets one final look at his squad.
Kepa Arrizabalaga is named on the six-man bench, with Emerson Palmieri, Kenedy, Billy Gilmour, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Harvey Vale making up the rest of the matchday squad.
There are lots of notable absentees following the 28-man travelling party to Udine, and the absent players are likely to be involved on Saturday morning when Chelsea play their second game in Italy.
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Mateo Kovacic, Ethan Ampadu, Christian Pulisic, Hakim Ziyech, Armando Broja and Trevoh Chalobah are among Friday's absentees, as is Ben CHilwell who is likely to be in the other side for Saturday's friendly.
Tuchel will be hoping to get a see a positive display from his team in Italy at the Dacia Arena.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy
