Chelsea will face off against AC Milan in what would be their final friendly fixture in the International Champions Cup. They enjoyed a morale-boosting 1-0 win over domestic rivals Liverpool in what was a typical display people have to come expect from Conte’s teams. But they suffered a demoralising defeat against Real Madrid in their very next match. A poor Chelsea first half in Michigan allowed Marcelo to steer Los Blancos into a 3-0 lead on Saturday after the Brazilian bagged a brace and then set up Mariano Diaz for a wonder goal before the break. However, Conte sent his men back out from the break motivated and focused and Chelsea were rewarded when substitute Eden Hazard scored twice late on to help spare the Londoners’ blushes in the 3-2 loss.
Though they tasted defeat in front of 105,826 fans, which incidentally was a record spectator count for a Chelsea match, Conte would have been encouraged by the way his troops responded in the second half to get two goals back.
The biggest positive would have been Hazard as he is expected to be back to his best and Chelsea desperately need the Belgian like we know him.
The Italians will come into their game with the Blues also off the back of a loss, thanks to Liverpool’s 2-0 win over the Serie A side on Sunday, although they did manage to beat Bayern Munich on penalties in their friendly before that clash.
FORMATION
Conte has been adamant about using the 4-2-4 formation which he feels, once mastered, will be the best possible formation for the Chelsea team he possesses. Hence, his desperation to sign another striker before the window closes. But Chelsea have thus far struggled to come to grips with the formation and Conte would want his main players to get adjusted playing in this set-up as much as they can before the season kicks in.
TEAM NEWS
Diego Costa is unlikely to start after struggling to recover from a minor back injury, which kept him out of the Real Madrid and Liverpool games recently. But if sufficiently fit, he will be brought on from the bench in the latter stages.
Mikel John Obi will not be available as he is representing his nation Nigeria at the Rio Olympics, but new Chelsea signing N’Golo Kanté could start after joining the team last week and undergoing training.
Meanwhile, Baba Rahman has completed his loan move to Schalke.
The likely starting eleven will be,
