Chelsea continue their pre-season programme in the early hours of tomorrow morning when they face French club Lyon in a Women’s International Champions Cup match at Providence Park, Portland.
The Blues will participate in two matches Stateside with Emma Hayes’ side set to take on either tournament hosts Portland Thorns or Mexican club CF Monterray on Sunday. Their second opponents will be determined by the results in the opening round of matches tomorrow morning.
Chelsea’s first opponents Lyon arrive in the United States after winning the UEFA Women’s Champions League in May. The French giants defeated FC Barcelona 3-1 in the final. Head coach Sonia Bompastor is expected to carefully juggle her squad with the French and German players in her side having been in UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 action just three weeks ago or less. The minutes of several members of her squad could be managed. Catarina Macario, Dzsenifer Marozsan and Ellie Carpenter are all out with long term injuries.
The Women’s International Champions Cup offers Chelsea boss Hayes the opportunity to hand debuts to Ève Périsset, Kadeisha Buchanan, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and Kateřina Svitková. UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 champions Millie Bright, Jess Carter, Beth England and Fran Kirby are members of the squad which has travelled to Portland but their game time may be limited.
Chelsea’s opening match at the Women’s International Champions Cup kicks-off at 1.30am tomorrow morning.