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Chelsea will kick off their pre-seasono (in front of the TV cameras) by taking on Arsenal in the massive Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing. Pre-season may be fake but it’s always great to watch the Blues in action, and especially against our North London rivals.
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Chelsea starting lineup (3-4-3): Courtois | Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill | Moses, Kante, Fabregas, Alonso | Willian, Batshuayi, Pedro
Substitutes from: Caballero, Eduardo, Clarke-Salter, Tomori, Christensen, Kalas, Scott, Baker, Boga, Pasalic, Remy
Arsenal starting lineup (3-4-3): Ospina | Maitland-Niles, Mertesacker, Monreal | Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Xhaka, Bramall | Ozil, Iwobi, Lacazette
Substitutes from: Nelson, Malen, Willock, Martinez, Nketiah, Welbeck, Coquelin, El Neny, Bielik, Koscielny, Kolasinac
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Date / Time: Saturday, July 22, 12:40 BST; 7:40am EDT; 5:10pm IST
Venue: Bird’s Nest, Beijing, China
Forecast: Over 9000 degrees hot
On TV: ITV 1 (UK); elsewhere
Streaming online: Chelsea TV (int’l)
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As expected, perhaps, Conte sticks with last season’s XI but with Batshuayi leading the line due to necessity. We should be seeing a few youngsters getting a run-out in the later stages of the game, though. We owe Arsenal one for what happened in the FA Cup, even if it is a friendly so buckle up and enjoy the ride!