Chelsea start their pre-season by participating in the Herbalife World Football Challenge 2012. This is just a collective of some of the top European teams playing matches out in the USA. Chelsea will face the rising force of Paris St Germain and AC Milan during their tour of the USA, but they will kick things off on Wednesday with a match against the Seattle Sounders. The match will be played at the CenturyLink Field, and this is the second time that the two sides have met. The Blues were visitors to Seattle during the Sounders’ expansion year back in 2009, and Chelsea won that match, albeit labouredly by a 2-0 scoreline with goals from Daniel Sturridge and Frank Lampard. So now they will head back there to start their pre-season, and the reigning Champions League winners will, more than likely, test a few of their new and younger squad members. Roberto Di Matteo has been given the managerial job at Stamford Bridge full time and the club have been linked with just about every name that has come on the transfer market, from FC Porto’s Hulk, to Polish striker Robert Lewandowski.
Of course, Chelsea have lost some of their old guard like Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou, as they look to usher in a young era. They started the summer brightly by capturing the much sought after Eden Hazard but there is still the promise of more to come before the Premier League really kicks off. They have added Brazilian midfielder Oscar to their ranks, as well as Marko Marin, and with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Gael Kakuta and Romelu Lukaku offering forward options as well, Chelsea are assembling a good squad. Chelsea take their full squad to the USA, with their representatives who made it beyond the group stage of Euro 2012 joining up later on the Tour. The Seattle Sounders have failed to win any of their four exhibition matches played against European opposition, and they were trounced 7-0 last season by the visiting Manchester United So the Sounders have a point to prove, and the Pacific North West club have had a pretty good domestic season.
Just recently they reached their fourth straight US Open Cup final, as they beat Chivas USA 4-1. That means that MLS side are on a five match unbeaten streak at the moment in all competitions, and with them in full flight in their domestic season, they will be sharp and they will be keen to out-work and out-muscle Chelsea. The Sounders are sitting third in the Western Conference after a solid season, seven points back of leaders San Jose Earthquakes. The Sounders are a pretty solid all round side; they have conceded a goal per game over their nineteen league matches this season in the MLS, while they have scored 23 in that run, so they aren’t prolific They are a hard working team though, and should have high energy for the match up with Chelsea. Still, naturally, the MLS side go into the game as underdogs, but if it is a weaker, inexperienced Chelsea side that Roberto Di Matteo sends out, then the Sounders could be good for a draw.
Chelsea v Seattle Sounders Betting Odds at Online Bookmaker William Hill
Chelsea 4/9, Draw 3/1, Seattle Sounders 9/2
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