Chelsea will be looking to make it two wins in a row to start their pre-season tour of the United States when they face off against Charlotte FC on Wednesday night with kickoff at 2:30 am.
Charlotte are one of the newest teams in MLS, having been formed in December 2019. The club is playing in their first ever MLS season this term, picking up 26 points from 21 matches to sit eighth in the Eastern Conference.
Christian Lattanzio’s side will enter this contest off the back of a 3-2 defeat at Inter Miami on Saturday and will now turn their attention to taking on Barcelona in a friendly on Tuesday.
Yordy Reyna hit a brace to send the away side ahead in Florida, but Phil Neville’s team managed to recover, hitting the winner in the 93rd minute of the clash. Charlotte will certainly have one eye on their next MLS contest against Toronto FC on July 23, but the match with Chelsea will surely go down as the biggest in their short history.
Meanwhile, Chelsea opened up their pre-season with a 2-1 win against Club America on Saturday. Timo Werner and Mason Mount scored in the second half of the match. They are now preparing to take on Charlotte and Arsenal in their next two fixtures before facing Udinese in their final friendly of the summer at the end of the month.
Charlotte vs Chelsea Head to Head
Both sides are yet to face against each other and this marks their first encounter. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Inter Miami 3-2 Charlotte
- Charlotte 4-1 Nashville
- Dynamo 1-2 Charlotte
- Charlotte 0-1 Austin
Away
- Club America 1-2 Chelsea
- Chelsea 2-1 Watford
- Chelsea 1-1 Leicester
- Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea
Charlotte FC Team News
After playing a high-energy game against Inter Miami, Charlotte interim head coach Lattanzio will need to check on his players’ fitness. The home side will definitely be without the services of Adam Armour and Vinicius Mello, though, with the former out with a knee injury while the latter has a foot problem.
Chelsea Team News
Chelsea will make a number of changes to the side that started against Club America last time out, with Edouard Mendy, Reece James and Mount expected to come into the XI. There could also be debuts for Sterling and Koulibaly, with the latter potentially featuring in a back three alongside Trevoh Chalobah and Thiago Silva.
Prediction and Odds
Charlotte will be a strong opponent for Chelsea, who are deep into their domestic season, while Chelsea have only just started preparing for their 2022-23 campaign.
- Chelsea Win
- Both Teams to Score
- Mount to Score
