Chelsea v Leverkusen preview
Less than a month after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final in New Jersey, Chelsea play their first pre-season game nine days in advance of their Premier League opener.
Enzo Maresca sealed a return to the Champions League on the final day of his first season in charge and the Italian does not know how sharp his squad will be during an unusual build-up to the new campaign.
“The focus was just to allow the players to recover,” said Maresca, whose team host Crystal Palace on August 17 (14:00 BST / 09:00 ET / 06:00 PT). “It’s strange, it’s different and I really don’t know.
“I’m curious because Palace started [preparing] the day after we finished in the USA. We had three weeks off, now we have two friendlies in three days and then we will [start] the Premier League.
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“The mood is much better because we finished the season strong. That’s going to give players more energy and more boost.
“We’ll see if we try difficult things in terms of tactics for the season. I could see, over the last two or three days, where we are physically.”
Leverkusen have won three friendlies in a row under former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, who succeeded Xabi Alonso following his hugely successful predecessor’s switch to Real Madrid.
A distant second in their Bundesliga title defence last season, Ten Hag’s side followed up a 2-0 victory at Bochum and a 2-1 win at Fortuna Sittard by thrashing Pisa 3-0 at the BayArena on Tuesday.
“It was a very good game and we saw some very good things,” Ten Hag said after his first non-competitive home game in charge, via Bild.
“We’re a solid team. We have a very good foundation, but we need to improve. There are certain elements of the game that we need to work on.
“We have to get the right players; not just quantity but also quality. And I came here to Leverkusen because I have a lot of confidence in the board that they will bring in the right players.”
Ten Hag, who was sacked by United last October, called the game against Chelsea “the toughest test”.
“At the moment, we don’t have the right squad in terms of players,” added the Dutchman. “Chelsea have two dressing rooms’ full.”
Chelsea v Leverkusen team news
Maresca said he is going to try to share minutes between all of his players but the Blues have been rocked with a serious knee injury for first-choice defender Levi Colwill.
“We need to wait and see,” he said. “We know how important Levi was last year. He was a main player for us.”
Wesley Fofana, who was Chelsea’s starting centre-back alongside Colwill at the beginning of 2024/25, is close to returning from a long-term lay-off.
“Wes is back and training with us,” reported Maresca. “I don’t think he’s ready to get minutes in the next two games but he can probably be ready for Palace, which is big news.”
Centre-back Benoit Badiashile and midfielders Dario Essugo and Romeo Lavia are also out but new signings including forwards Joao Pedro and Liam Delap, wingers Estevao and Jamie Gittens and left-back Jorrel Hato could feature for the club at Stamford Bridge for the first time.
Leverkusen’s Martin Terrier is yet to return from an Achilles tear the French foward suffered in January.
Edmond Tapsoba was sent off against Pisa for a foul denying a clear scoring opportunity but the centre-back will not be suspended.
Ten Hag said he would have sent on forward Victor Boniface, who is building his fitness, had Tapsoba not been dismissed.
Brazilian right-back Arthur is a doubt after being substituted with a knock against Pisa, but Piero Hincapie made a successful return from injury in that game.
Fellow defender Jarell Quansah could play his first game in England since joining Leverkusen from Liverpool in July for an initial £30 million, while goalkeeper Mark Flekken is likely to be back in London, having signed for a reported fee of around £7.8m from Brentford in July.
Forward Patrik Schick, who was part of Leverkusen’s unbeaten German domestic double-winning squad during the 2023/24 season, signed a new contract this week lasting until 2030.
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Chelsea v Leverkusen expected line-ups
Chelsea starting XI: Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; James, Caicedo; Palmer, Fernandez, Pedro Neto; Joao Pedro
Leverkusen starting XI: Flekken; Tape, Tapsoba, Hincapie; Adli, Palacios, Andrich, Grimaldo; Maza, Tella; Kofane
Is Chelsea v Leverkusen on TV? Live online stream, channel
Kick-off on Friday is at 19:00 BST (14:00 ET / 11:00 ET), with free-to-air live coverage in the UK on Channel 5, which is on channel 105 on Freeview HD, Sky and Virgin Media.
Coverage starts 30 minutes before kick-off, and fans can watch online and on the move on a vast variety of devices via Channel 5’s website and the 5 app.
5 will also be showing Chelsea’s home friendly against Milan on Sunday, which kicks off at 15:00 BST / 12:00 ET / 09:00 PT.
DAZN will be broadcasting both games live in several regions around the world, with full details available here.
Chelsea v Leverkusen stats
- The sides traded home wins during the group stage of Chelsea’s glorious 2011/12 Champions League campaign, Leverkusen coming from behind to prevail 2-1 before the Blues won 2-0 courtesy of David Luiz and Juan Mata goals.
- Chelsea have won five successive matches against European opponents since a 2-1 home defeat to Legia Warszawa on April 17, although they went through 4-2 on aggregate despite that result and proceeded to win the Conference League.
- They had failed to win any of their previous five competitive fixtures against German opposition before a 2-0 home win over Borussia Dortmund to reach the 2022/23 Champions League quarter-finals.
- Maresca’s side were unbeaten in their final 10 Premier League home games of last season, winning eight of their last nine.
- Since a 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City in their first game of last season, Chelsea have scored in 27 consecutive games at Stamford Bridge in all competitions.
- Thursday marked a year since Leverkusen’s last visit to London, losing a friendly 4-1 at Arsenal.
- Their 4-0 defeat at Liverpool in last season’s Champions League group stage meant Leverkusen have lost 13 and won five of their 24 competitive meetings with English clubs, scoring 25 goals and conceding 47.
- Their record in their last 11 such encounters is more even, earning four wins and three draws.
- Die Werkself have lost eight of their 11 competitive away games in England, winning once.
- Leverkusen were unbeaten away in last season’s Bundesliga but have lost three successive away games in Europe since a 1-1 draw at Brest last October, scoring once across those matches.
Chelsea v Leverkusen prediction
Assessing either side is tricky. Leverkusen should be sharper after weeks of preparation, but Chelsea could consider their two games this weekend particularly important with their season starting a week before Leverkusen kick off at home to Hoffenheim (August 23, 14:30 BST / 09:30 ET / 06:30 ET).
Given the unpredictability of the teams and intensity, the safest prediction seems a 1-1 draw, as was the score when Chelsea hosted Inter in a pre-season home friendly last August.
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