Chelsea vs. Newcastle United, Premier League Summer Series Friendly: Preview, team news, how to watch

Chelsea’s summertime good vibes will face their biggest test yet as we take on Newcastle United in Atlanta tonight. Of course, it’s still all just preseason, so the result is secondary, but after back-to-back wins to begin our preparations for the season ahead, it would be nice to make it three in a row.

This game is part of a double-header with the Brighton vs. Brentford match kicking off first, so we’ll see just how close we can all stick to the schedule.

Date / Time: Wednesday, July 26, 2023, 8:15pm EDT; 1:15am BST (next day); 5:45am IST (next day)
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA, USA
Forecast: Warm and somewhat humid (the stadium’s roof can be closed)

On TV: Sky Sports Main Event (UK); none (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); SuperSport Premier League (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky Go (UK); Peacock (USA); Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)

Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images for Premier League

Chelsea team news: Having joined up a few days late due to feeling a bit ill, Reece James should now be ready to play at least a small part, with Pochettino continuing to rotate his squad aggressively to give all players some minutes. We’ve been a bit light on options on the right side however other than newcomer Malo Gusto, and obviously Reecey’s such a massively important part of the team and key to our ambitions for this season and beyond.

Otherwise, every player on the tour seems to be in good or improving physical shape, and there are no injuries of note so far — certainly a welcome sight! Slight scares about Trevoh Chalobah (Achilles) and Levi Colwill (appeared to be favoring his leg late on in the previous match) seem to be nothing to be actually worried about.

Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Newcastle United team news: Having qualified for the Champions League after a long absence, Newcastle have splashed the cash on Sandro Tonali from AC Milan and just the other day completed the signing of Harvey Barnes as well, from Leicester City. Meanwhile, Allan Saint-Maximin is set to be the latest big-money transfer for the Saudi Pro League — with the added wink and wrinkle that Al-Ahli and Newcastle are practically owned by the same entity (the Saudi Public Investment Fund). But I’m sure it’s all very above board. Definitely.

Newcastle drew 3-3 with Aston Villa over the weekend, in their first friendly of their USA Tour, but this will be their fourth preseason match already.

Previously: Chelsea and Newcastle closed out last season with a 1-1 draw at the Bridge. But we’re all about looking forward, so here are some preseason vibes instead, featuring many of these strange things called ... goals?