Chelsea will take on Fiorentina in their final fixture of the International Champions Cup 2015 at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
Chelsea, who were recently defeated by Arsene Wenger's Arsenal in the FA Community Shield match, would want to forget the loss and look ahead to the new season of the forthcoming English Premier League (EPL), which starts on 8 August.
Jose Mourinho's Men in Blue have not been at their best in the pre-season fixtures. Although, they have sneaked out penalty shootout victories over Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Barcelona.
Chelsea, who are the defending champions of the EPL, have forced their fans to raise question whether they will be able to retain the title in the upcoming season, which begins on Saturday with a fixture against Swansea City FC.
The Blues began their International Champions Cup campaign with a loss against New York Red Bulls by 4-2 before the former defeated PSG and Barcelona in their next fixtures. In the FA Community Shield game against Arsenal on Sunday, Chelsea showed signs of vulnerability in the defense line and the defenders let Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain score the winning goal past Thibaut Courtois. This was their first competitive game of the new season and they ended up losing that game just a week before the start of the EPL 2015-2016.
Chelsea will be facing Manchester City in their second game of the league and that means Mourinho and his men cannot afford to relax before the start of the EPL. The game against Fiorentina is their best chance to find form as being the defending champions they cannot make a slow start to their Premier League campaign.
On the other hand, Fiorentina has had a decent pre-season campaign so far. They have managed to win two out of the three games that they have played in the International Champions Cup 2015. In their last match, they stunned the Spanish giants Barcelona by 2-1. Fiorentina youngster Federico Bernardeschi helped his side with a brace against the Spanish champions.
Fiorentina finished fourth in the points table in the Serie A for the third consecutive season and they secured a place in the Europa League. Their newly appointed head coach Paulo Sousa's prime focus will be to sneak into the top three so that they can get the flavour of UEFA Champions League in the next season.
Sousa's side started the pre-season with a defeat against PSG, followed by a win over Benfica in the penalties and in their last game they hocked Barcelona with a 2-1 victory. Fiorentina still have a couple of weeks left before they start their Serie A campaign by facing AC Milan in their first game of the league. If they manage to overcome the likes of Chelsea just before the start of the new season, then it will give a major boost to their confidence.
Expected Lineups:
Chelsea: Begovic; Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Fabregas; Hazard, Oscar, Willian; Falcao.
Fiorentina: Tatarusanu; Pasqual, Roncaglia, Rodriguez, Tomovic; Suarez, Valero; Rebic, Babacar, Joaquin; Bernardeschi.
Where to watch live:
The final fixture of the International Champions Cup 2015 between Chelsea and Fiorentina is scheduled for an 8 pm local time (8 pm BST, 12.30 am IST, 3pm ET) start with live coverage on TV in India on Star Sports 4 and Star Sports HD 4. The match can also be watched via live streaming online in India on Starsports.com and Hotstar.
Audience in the UK can watch the International Champions Cup 2015 match live on Sky Sports1, with the live stream option on Sky Go.
People in Italy can catch the game live on PremierSport HD.
The game will be shown live in the US on Fox Sports 1and ESPN Deportes+, while the action can also be live streamed on FoxSoccer2Go and Watch ESPN.
