Three of the ‘big six’ were in pre-season action on Wednesday as the countdown to Gameweek 1 continues.
We start our round-up of the midweek friendlies with Chelsea, who faced Juventus.
CHELSEA 0-1 JUVENTUS
Chelsea XI: Sanchez (Penders 46); Palestra (Acheampong 65), Fofana (Subuloye 66), Tosin (Sarr 46), Hato (Anselmino 66); Caicedo (Essugo 66), Nicoll-Jazuli (Lavia 65); Quenda (Estevao 46), J. Pedro (Delap 66), Gittens (Satpaev 65); Welbeck (Jackson 46 [Mudryk 82])
Chelsea slipped to a second successive pre-season defeat on Wednesday with a 1-0 loss against Juventus in Hong Kong.
Notably, the match at Kai Tak Sports Park marked another instance of Xabi Alonso fielding a four-man backline rather than deploying the three-man defence set-up for which he became known on the continent.
Here it was a 4-2-3-1 that became a 4-4-2 at times, with Danny Welbeck (£6.0m) leading the line on a quiet debut summed up by some decent hold-up play and a chance sent wide before his withdrawal at the break.
Joao Pedro (£7.5m) often drifted up alongside his former Brighton teammate but also frequently dropped deeper into the No10 role in search of possession and a line-breaking pass, though his final ball was lacking on this occasion.
The Brazilian’s propensity to step back into the attacking midfield zones against Juve was perhaps necessitated by the absence of Cole Palmer (£9.5m), who missed out with some “discomfort” that Alonso insisted was “not a big thing” but required caution:
“They had some discomfort; Cole with a contact injury and Levi [Colwill] as well. It’s not a big thing, but we want to be cautious because there’s no point in risking anything. So, we’ll go step by step, day by day.” – Xabi Alonso
As the quote above reveals, Levi Colwill (£5.0m) was another absentee from this match for similar reasons to Palmer, who was pictured doing individual work at Chelsea’s open training session on Tuesday while the centre-back missed that session entirely.
The Blues are next in action against AC Milan on Saturday (8th August) before facing Malaysian club Johor Darul Ta’zim the following day, so we’ll keep an eye out for any pre- and post-match updates on the duo’s conditions then. In any case, Alonso is probably right to be cautious in his approach with the pair given Palmer struggled with a recurring groin injury last term while Colwill missed almost the entirety of the 2025/26 campaign after suffering an ACL injury during his last pre-season.
Elsewhere, teenage wideman Geovany Quenda (£5.5m) put in a promising debut display on the right side of Chelsea’s midfield, combining defensive workrate with heavy involvement in much of his new club’s good efforts going forward.
There were question marks after the 19-year-old’s arrival from Sporting CP regarding whether he would be a wing-back in Alonso’s usual three-at-the-back system or an actual wide midfielder, but on this occasion he was the latter and linked up well with new right-back Marco Palestra (£5.5m); so too did Estevao (£6.5m) when he came on at the interval.
There was also a debut for 21-year-old Belgian goalkeeper Mike Penders (£4.5m), signed from BlueCo sister club Strasbourg. Penders replaced Robert Sanchez (£5.0m) at half-time and we’ve already heard suggestions from Alonso that the No1 jersey could be up for grabs, so all eyes will be on who’s between the posts – and how they perform.
Fellow new signings Maxence Lacroix (£6.0m) and Morgan Rogers (£7.5m) remain uninvolved for now as they enjoy post-World Cup breaks, Enzo Fernandez (£7.0m) and Reece James (£5.5m) likewise.
In the meantime, it was Jorrel Hato (£4.5m) starting at left-back again following Marc Cucurella’s departure, with Tosin Adarabioyo (£4.5m) the man chosen to partner Wesley Fofana (£5.0m) in Colwill’s absence.
Fofana is suspended domestically until September 6 (Gameweek 3) so with Trevoh Chalobah headed to Como, on current evidence we’d expect a duo of Colwill and Lacroix come Gameweek 1 provided both men are at full fitness.
However, Chelsea certainly have no shortage of defensive options, and club captain James will add to that – be it as a right-back and/or potentially a right-sided centre-back – upon his return. There are also reports of an agreement being close for Rayo Vallecano left-back Pep Chavarria.
Moises Caicedo (£5.5m) skippered the troops in James’s stead for his own first pre-season outing and there was an impressive performance from 16-year-old Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli alongside the Ecuadorian. Nicoll-Jazuli has played among the most minutes of any Chelsea midfielder in pre-season so far and has been among the stand-out performers of Alonso’s short reign, though whether his involvement remains as frequent when the likes of Rogers, Palmer and Enzo are back in the frame is another matter.
And finally, there was a first Chelsea appearance for Mykhailo Mudryk in 20 months, just days after the Ukrainian’s banned substance-related suspension was ended. Mudryk replaced fellow substitute Nicolas Jackson (£6.5m) – making his own comeback in Blue after a year away on loan with Bayern Munich – in a pre-planned change late on to a warm reception. Both men have been linked with moves away from Stamford Bridge, something we’ll be tracking over the coming weeks before Deadline Day.
