Chelsea’s Premier League match against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge has been brought forward due to the Blues’ involvement in the UEFA Super Cup.
The rescheduled match will now be played on Wednesday the 21st of August, kick-off 19:45, ten days before the orginal fixture.
This does mean that Jose Mourinho’s side will have to play two home matches within four days a week after returning from their US pre-season tour which was extended to accommodate an extra fixture against Roma on August 10th.
It could be tough going on the squad so early in the season, especially as Chelsea played more games than anyone over the last campaign with two post-season matches in the US against Manchester City tacked on at the end, but if all goes well the West Londoners could be taking a three point lead (or more) to Old Trafford for their first away match before playing Bayern Munich in the Super Cup.
The United clash is early in the season but any match between the top sides is usually billed as a six-pointer and any advantage over a league rival is always welcome, so it would be important to try take six points to Old Trafford and get a positive result against David Moyes’ side.
Whilst the timing of the Super Cup isn’t particularly convenient for Chelsea it represents an early chance to pick up silverware as well testing Mourinho’s squad against the reigning European Champions and an old adversary in Pep Guardiola, who had been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge before agreeing a deal to go to Munich. Now that the Special One has returned home their rivalry adds a bit of extra spice to proceedings.
Chelsea are currently on pre-season in Asia and although they’re only playing friendlies there has been a lot of positive signs following the victories against the Singha All-Stars (1-0), Malaysian XI (4-1) and BNI Indonesia All-Stars (8-1). They’ll head back to London before jetting back off for the Guinness International Champions Cup in the US to play Inter Milan on August 1st.
Source: ChelseaFC.com
