Chelsea opened their preparations for the new season with a clash against Wrexham on Wednesday evening, and the Blues had to come from behind to share the spoils with the Welsh outfit.
Indeed, Luke Bolton and Jack Marriott were on the scoresheet for Wrexham after Christopher Nkunku had sent Chelsea ahead in the 35th minute, but Lesley Ugochukwu netted in the 82nd minute to make it 2-2, with Enzo Maresca officially getting his reign as Blues boss underway.
The Blues will play four more matches in the United States, tackling Celtic, Club America, Man City and Real Madrid, before returning to England to face Inter Milan in their final friendly of the summer on August 11.
The capital giants will then get their 2024-25 Premier League campaign underway at home to Man City on August 18, while the month will end with a trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Chelsea have made six signings so far this summer, with the biggest of those proving to be Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Leicester City, while Ian Maatsen has been their major outgoing att this stage of the window.
Celtic are much further ahead in terms of their preparations for the new campaign, with Brendan Rodgers‘s side set to open their new Scottish Premiership season against Kilmarnock on August 4.
The Scottish champions began their pre-season with a 1-1 draw against Ayr United on July 5, but they have won their last three games, beating Queen’s Park 6-4 before heading to the United States.
Celtic recorded a 4-0 win over DC United in the first match of their US Tour, before beating English champions Man City 4-3 last time out, and it was a Citizens side that included the likes of Rico Lewis, Kalvin Phillips, Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland.
The Hoops will again enter the new Scottish Premiership campaign as the favourites for the title, and another positive result in this contest would leave them full of confidence.
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Celtic have had a quiet transfer window, only making two signings, with the standout arrival proving to be Kasper Schmeichel, with the 37-year-old recently completing a switch to Rodgers’s side.
Head coach Maresca will once again look to use his full squad, with Raheem Sterling, Malo Gusto and Ben Chilwell potentially now being brought into the XI, but the likes of Marc Cucurella, Cole Palmer, Conor Gallagher, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez are all absent due to international commitments over the summer.
As for Celtic, head coach Rodgers could select the same side that took to the field for the first whistle against Man City last time out, which is likely to mean another 4-3-3 formation.
Nicolas Kuhn was the star of the show against the English champions, hitting a first-half brace, and he is again expected to operate down the right for the Scottish champions.
