Chelsea announce United States preseason schedule

Chelsea have announced four preseason fixtures on Tuesday, and fans on the east coast of the United States should be ecstatic. Three of those four fixtures will be played in New Jersey, North Carolina, and Washington D.C., with the fourth against Fiorentina at Stamford Bridge:

New York Red Bulls - Wednesday 22 July - New Jersey

Paris Saint-Germain - Saturday 25 July - Charlotte, North Carolina

Barcelona - Tuesday 28 July - Washington D.C.

Fiorentina - Wednesday 5 August - Stamford Bridge

Writing as someone living within reasonable driving distance of two of those matches, it's hard not to be excited. The July 28 match in particular looks tasty, as many of Chelsea's regulars should be with the club by this point, while the same should be true for Barcelona.

In addition to those four matches, the Chelsea preseason will almost certainly include the Community Shield match, to be played against the winner of the FA Cup final. Six more points...