Chelsea to play friendly match against Aston Villa in Abu Dhabi next month

The football fever is on with a World Cup already filled with surprises, but not always completely filled in terms of attendance at the Qatari stadiums. Nevertheless interest in the sport seems to have no limits, especially with countries in the Arabian Peninsula and its vicinities getting directly involved in European football.

On that note, Chelsea will be surfing that wave somehow by taking some of our talents to Abu Dhabi this December for not just a training camp in warm weather, but also for a friendly match against Aston Villa.

The match will be played on December 11th at 6:10pm local time (2:10pm in the United Kingdom) at the Al Nahyan Stadium, for the CBF | Al Wahda Challenge Cup. The game will be broadcast live on the club’s official website and The 5th Stand app.

And while the match will take place during the World Cup — which means neither Chelsea nor Aston Villa will have their full squads available for the game — it will at least happen during an off-day in the competition. Not that we are sorely missing proper Chelsea action during the event, given how well the women’s team have been faring since that weird 2-1 loss against Liverpool to kick off the season.