Chelsea played a friendly against National League side Weymouth on Sunday, less than 24 hours after their victory over Crystal Palace.
Thomas Tuchel’s men got off to the best possible start in the Premier League, having defeated Palace 3-0 at Stamford Bridge. Marcos Alonso, Christian Pulisic and Trevoh Chalobah found the net to put three points on the board for the Blues.
Chelsea fans will take encouragement from the fact that the team fielded against the Eagles was not what you’d consider their best starting XI. Reece James, Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell, N’Golo Kante and Romelu Lukaku all played no part.
While the latter two were ruled out by injury and quarantine respectively, Chelsea’s squad is still partially disjointed by the staggered return of players for pre-season, following their involvement in Euro 2020 or Copa America.
As a result, a friendly against National League side Weymouth was held at the Cobham Training Ground on Sunday afternoon – and it’s safe to say that the Chelsea XI that was fielded showed their class.
Extra game time for some of the team at Cobham today ended in a 13-0 victory against Weymouth. 👇
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 15, 2021
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As is detailed in the match report on chelseafc.com, the goal scorers on the day were Michy Batshuayi (x5), Ross Barkley (x3), Callum Hudson-Odoi (x2), Reece James and Thiago Silva. The 13th goal is unaccounted for.
It was merely an exercise to get minutes in the legs from Chelsea’s perspective, with there being little to learn from Premier League footballers being fielded against a National League outfit.
Thomas Tuchel was present and took charge of the contest a day after the Blues’ Premier League opener. It remains to be seen if anyone’s performance will earn them an opportunity against more esteemed opposition.