Chelsea continue their tour of the USA, after opening with a 4-2 win over the Seattle Sounders and then a draw against Paris St Germain. Six years ago Chelsea went up against the MLS All Stars and suffered a 1-0 defeat. Now the London club is going to get another crack of the whip against the very best that the MLS has to offer. Chelsea are apparently going to take the match seriously, after looking really sloppy in defence against the Seattle Sounders, and using a high amount of substitutes in both of their previous games. That is part and parcel of pre-season friendly matches, but Blues boss Roberto Di Matteo has said that he is not going to use as many subs throughout their game against the MLS All Stars. The start to the new Premier League season is coming ever closer, and prior to that, Chelsea, last season’s FA Cup winners have to face Premier League Champions Manchester City in the Community Shield.
Di Matteo is keen to try and increase the minutes of some of his players. Amongst all the substitutions, it has been an interesting looking at formation. Di Matteo looks as if he has been preferring a 4-4-2 formation, which has at times looked decent, but at others, looked lack-lustre and laboured. Of course this could be all experimentation and Chelsea will get back to their regular 4-3-3 when the domestic season rolls around, but Di Matteo does have to think about fitting his new players like Eden Hazard and Marko Marin into the line up. But the 4-4-2 doesn’t look a tremendously dynamic one, and after failing to create too much going forward against a strong and organised Paris St Germain defence, it is going to need some tweaking. But that is what these matches are for.
The MLS will be coached by head coach Ben Olson of DC United. The MLS have gone up against Manchester United in the past couple of years, and prior to their meetings against the Red Devils, which both ended in defeat, the MLS were 5-0-1 against international opposition. So the MLS All Stars will be out to prove that they are better than their two defeats against Manchester Unite d (with a combined scoreline of 9-2). LA Galaxy’s Landon Donovan has been voted into an MLS record 12th appearance this year and naturally has been saying that the side have the motivation and quality to match up with the European Champions, Chelsea There will be more familiar names in the MLS All Star squad, with LA Galaxy’s David Beckham and the New York Red Bulls Thierry Henry getting voted into the squad as the starting eleven.
Chelsea v MLS All Stars odds at online bookmaker William Hill
Chelsea 4/11, Draw16/5, MLS All Stars 11/2
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