Guinness International Champions Cup: Chelsea vs AC Milan Preview

Chelsea will move their 2013 Guinness International Champions Cup campaign to New Jersey where they will lock horns with Valencia's conquerors, AC Milan, at the MetLife Stadium. The match scheduled to kick off by 6:30pm Eastern Time (11:30pm UTC + 1) will be the first time Chelsea will be playing the 7-time champions of Europe, AC Milan, since July, 2012 when they secured a 1-0 victory over us in a preseason fixture. Chelsea will have the opportunity to avenge that defeat and we are confident of doing so especially as we are on a perfect preseason run of 4 victories out of a possible four. The latest of those victories came on Thursday in a 2-0 victory over Inter Milan. Tomorrow, Chelsea will again be faced with a Milanese opposition as they battle it out with Inter's archrivals, AC Milan.


The Blues' returning manager, Jose Mourinho, is on the quest to land his first major piece of silverware since his arrival in the shape of the Guinness International Champions Cup. Though it might not be the most prestigious of trophies, triumph at the competition which also has European giants Real Madrid and Juventus competing in it will provide an early boast for the team going into the 2013-14 season. The season kicks off in two weeks' time.

A couple of Blues players have excelled in this preseason so far. Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Victor Moses and Romelu Lukaku have been the leading lights in Jose Mourinho's new-look team so far. The returning sextet of Oscar, Juan Mata, David Luiz, John Mikel Obi, Cesar Azpilicueta and Fernando Torres are still blending with the rest of the team. They were gradually brought into the last match against Internazionale with Oscar scoring a beautiful goal to get the party started in that match.

Chelsea vs AC Milan, New Jersey

Veteran midfielder Frank Lampard is not likely to be risked in this match as he is still out injured. His inclusion in this match puts him at the risk of aggravating his strained achilles and putting his participation in England's match with Scotland on the 14th of August in serious jeopardy. England's vice captain, Lampard would love to be part of that international match as he edges closer to winning his 100th cap for the Three Lions and Jose Mourinho would not want anything to stand in his favourite player's way. Andre Schurrle will also not play a part in the match as he's down with illness. Omeruo, who was granted a work permit by British authorities on Wednesday to ply his trade in the English Premier League was not selected for the preseason tour so he won't be fielded against the Rossoneri.

If Chelsea are able to overcome AC Milan on Sunday at the MetLife Stadium (which I'm backing us to do) we will be through to the final of the maiden edition of the Guinness International Champiuons Cup, putting them one step closer to picking up that piece of silverware. If they make it to the final, only Mourinho's ex-club, Real Madrid, or English rivals, Everton, will stand in our way. Either way it goes, Chelsea will be gunning for victory. But we still have to beat AC Milan before we start talking up our chances of winning the competition.

Should Chelsea lose, we'll settle for the third place match with either Juventus (who were beaten on penalties by Everton on Wednesday) or Major League Soccer side, L. A Galaxy (who were beaten by Real Madrid 3-1 on Thursday). Tomorrow's match is expected to be tougher than the one we played on Thursday and it will be used to test how far Jose Mourinho's have progressed so far.

Chelsea will end the US tour in a clash with AC Milan again on August 10 before the team flies back to London to wrap things up before the 2013-14 season sets in.