Mauricio Pochettino is without a number of defenders for tonight’s pre-season friendly between Chelsea and Wrexham after Wesley Fofana’s injury blow, though Nicolas Jackson makes his debut.
Chelsea have announced that Fofana has been forced to undergo surgery after injuring his anterior cruciate ligament.
Pochettino is also without Reece James who is ill and Benoit Badiashile, Armando Broja and Marcus Bettinelli continue their respective recoveries from injuries back in London.
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Romelu Lukaku, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Hakim Ziyech and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have remained at Cobham while they seek transfers away, meanwhile.
Pochettino is left picking his first Chelsea lineup from a youthful 29-man squad that features new signings Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson, alongside a host of young talent including Levi Colwill.
He may opt to play two different teams at the Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill with this his side’s first game of the summer.
Jackson starts from the off with Nkunku on the bench, while Malo Gusto and Andrey Santos also make their first starts for Chelsea after arriving in January and being sent out on loan.
Trevoh Chalobah captains a youthful team that has an average age of under 20, with Pochettino appearing to opt for a 4-2-3-1 system with Ian Maatsen playing on the left of the attack.
Enzo Fernandez, Levi Colwill, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke are not involved for Chelsea having joined up later than the rest of their team-mates for pre-season.
Chelsea XI: Cumming, Gusto, Chalobah, Humphreys, Cucurella, Andrey Santos, Casadei, Chukwuemeka, Moreira, Jackson, Maatsen
Subs: Kepa, Bergstrom, Silva, Chilwell, Gilchrist, Hall, Gallagher, Angelo Gabriel, Sterling, Nkunku
Injured: Fofana, Badiashile, Broja, Bettinelli
Ill: James
Suspended: None
Time and date: 1am BST on Thursday, July 20, 2023.
Venue: Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
