Community Shield and Premier League opener could cause early fixture congestion for Chelsea

On Tuesday, the FA has released their key dates for the 2015/16 season, and already, those dates could be causing some problems for the Blues. Having won the 2014/15 Barclays Premier League title, Chelsea will play the winner of the 2015 FA Cup (either Arsenal or Aston Villa) at Wembley stadium. The FA have set the date and time for that match, which will be played on Sunday, August 2, at 3 pm London time.

For Chelsea, that fixture creates some questions about their preseason, as it falls between a pair of matches that Chelsea have already announced. Jose Mourinho's side are scheduled to play FC Barcelona in Washington DC on Wednesday, July 29, while they'll be hosting Fiorentina at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, August 5. In all likelihood, that means that Chelsea fans paying to see the Blues face Barca won't see an extended outing from the club's established stars.

The Premier League has been scheduled to start on Saturday, August 8, though when Chelsea will play that weekend has not yet been announced. Depending on when that game gets scheduled, I'd expect to see quite a bit of youth and reserve involvement in the match against Fiorentina, much like I'm expecting for the Blues' match against Barca.

Fortunately for Chelsea, they've got a large volume of fringe players who will be around for most of the preseason, so Mourinho should have no problems ensuring that no players are overworked before the new season officially kicks off. Now lets just cross our fingers and hope that everyone stays healthy.