Predicted Chelsea Line-Up vs Real Sociedad: Chavarria's First Game, Palestra On The Right | OneFootball

Previewing Chelsea's pre-season fixture against Real Sociedad on August 15. Video Credit: Absolute Chelsea

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Xabi Alonso is expected to field a strong line-up in Chelsea’s final pre-season friendly against Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Several more players, including summer signings Morgan Rogers, Jordan Henderson, Valentin Barco, Maxence Lacroix, and Pep Chavarria, have recently reported in for pre-season.

Additionally, Emmanuel Emegha has also returned after previously missing out on the club’s pre-season tour in Australia and Asia due to a hamstring injury.

These additions give Alonso more options for this weekend’s friendly against Spanish side Sociedad, which will take place at Stamford Bridge.

With less than two weeks until Chelsea’s season-opening match against Fulham at Craven Cottage on August 25, Alonso would want to take this friendly even more seriously.

This will be an opportunity to experiment with new players in his system.

Who are the likely starters for Chelsea?

The formation Alonso chooses will, of course, determine the line-up.

While the manager may revert to a 4-2-3-1 system, it is more likely that he will opt for the 3-4-2-1 formation he deployed in the latest pre-season games against AC Milan in Indonesia and Johor Darul Ta’zim in Malaysia.

Robert Sanchez is expected to stay in goal. There also remain questions over Mike Penders’ surprise absence in Chelsea’s draw with Johor Darul Ta’zim. If Penders remains out of the picture, Sanchez will likely play the full game against Sociedad.

The outfield positions are harder to predict. It remains unclear whether the club deem the late pre-season arrivals fit enough to start on Saturday.

Maxence Lacroix and Reece James, for example, should both be in contention to play in the back three. Even so, it makes sense if Alonso decides to have Wesley Fofana, Josh Acheampong, and Levi Colwill, who have had minutes in the tank, as starting centre-backs.

Colwill missed the last two pre-season games due to a minor fitness issue, but has since been spotted in training.

Among the late arrivals, Chavarria likely has the biggest chance of making the starting 11. Unlike the others who returned from holidays after the World Cup, he had been in pre-season mode since early July with Rayo Vallecano before joining Chelsea’s training on Wednesday.

Chavarria’s presence would also allow Alonso to play Marco Palestra in his preferred right-sided position.

In midfield, Moises Caicedo is expected to start alongside Romeo Lavia, with Fernandez and Barco potentially coming on in the second half.

As for the front three, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro could play the two number 10 roles, with Danny Welbeck up front.

Hopefully, we can still see the link-up between Palmer and Rogers late in the game.

Sanchez, Acheampong, Fofana, Hato, Palestra, Caicedo, Lavia, Chavarria, Palmer, Joao Pedro, Welbeck