New Chelsea signings Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly are not in the squad for the Blues' opening pre-season friendly of the summer against Club America in Las Vegas.
Sterling's £47.5million move from Man City was officially confirmed on Wednesday morning, and he has spent the previous three days undertaking both individual and team training. However, in his pre-match press conference, Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel admitted that it was unlikely the England international would feature, and that has proved the case.
Koulibaly's arrival from Napoli was only officially confirmed late last night – U.S time – and the Senegal international was never expected to play in the friendly, given he hasn't yet undertaken a single training session with his new Chelsea teammates.
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It appears as though – despite having thought about a switch to a back four this summer – Tuchel has stuck with the tried and trusted 3-4-2-1 shape for this evening's clash at Allegiant Stadium.
Kepa Arrizabalaga starts in goal for the Blues behind a defence that includes Trevoh Chalobah, Thiago Silva and Malang Sarr. At right wing-back, Callum Hudson-Odoi is selected, while on the opposite flank, Ben Chilwell starts a game for the first time since recovering from his knee ligament injury.
Conor Gallagher is handed an opportunity to impress in central midfield and has been partnered, somewhat surprisingly, alongside Ross Barkley. Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic are not in the squad, and neither is Billy Gilmour.
In attack, Hakim Ziyech starts on the right of the three and Kai Havertz lines up through the middle. There is a shock start for Kenedy on the right of the frontline. The Brazilian made just two appearances during the second half of last season after being recalled from a loan spell in Brazil.
Chelsea: Kepa; Chalobah, Silva, Sarr; Hudson-Odoi, Barkley, Gallagher, Chilwell, Ziyech, Havertz, Kenedy
Chelsea substitutes: Bettinelli, Alonso, Ampadu, Azpilicueta, James, Mount, Pulisic, Batshuayi, Werner
