N’GOLO KANTE is expected to return from the bench for Chelsea’s pre-season friendly against Udinese on Friday night.
Thomas Tuchel is set to assemble as strong a team as possible for the game, 24 hours before they face Udinese for the second time, when fringe players get a chance.
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French midfielder Kante31, Missed Chelsea’s US tour due to his Covid vaccination status.
But he will be in the squad for Friday’s game and will almost certainly get some playing time.
Tuchel is likely to be in goal alongside Edouard Mendy and a star-studded back five comprising Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, new signing Kalidou Koulibalyand Marcos Alonso.
In midfield, Jorginho and Conor Gallagher will be the preferred pair behind £50million man Mason Mount Raheem Sterlingand Kai Havertz.
Trevoh Chalobah, Mateo Kovacic and Christian Pulisic include Chelsea players who will push for a starting place.
But whoever starts the match, Tuchel would like to see a reaction from his team after their 4-0 drubbing by Arsenal last Sunday.
Talking about after the game whether his team will be ready for their Eredivisie Opener away from Everton on August 6, Tuchel admitted: “I can’t guarantee it. I’m a big fan of a strong pre-season in everything: atmosphere, feel, performance, faith.
“I am far from relaxed. I think we deserved to lose [to Arsenal] – and that’s fair enough – because we just weren’t good enough. We were absolutely not competitive.
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“The worrying thing is the level of commitment, physically and mentally, because this game was not the same, it was much higher for Arsenal than it was for us. It just wasn’t enough.”
“We have a lot of players who are thinking about leaving and looking at their options.
“Last season’s analysis doesn’t change with this game. Unfortunately it proved my point and the last week proves my point.
“I’d rather not be right and I did everything I could to prove me wrong, but right now I feel like I was right when I look at where we struggled and how we struggled.
“We have been sanctioned and players have left us, we know some players are trying to leave us, and this is where it is.
“We had an urgent call for quality players and a huge number of quality players.
“We have two quality players – no doubt about that – but we are not that competitive and unfortunately we could see that today.”
Chelsea stays unsure about the future of some players just over a week after the start of the new season.
Azpilicueta, Alonso. Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech are all linked with moving away from Stamford Bridge before the summer window closes.