Chelsea are set to wrap up their pre-season tour of Australia and Asia with a friendly against Malaysian Super League side Johor Darul Ta'zim at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 1pm BST (7pm local time). The fixture arrives just a day after the Blues secured a comfortable 3-0 victory over AC Milan in Jakarta, and head coach Xabi Alonso is expected to make widespread changes to his starting eleven.
Given the quick turnaround between matches, several of Chelsea's most recognisable names, including Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro, are unlikely to feature. Pedro was among the standout performers against Milan, scoring twice either side of half-time, while Moises Caicedo added a spectacular long-range volley to complete the scoring. That win also saw contributions from Pedro Neto, Danny Welbeck, Wesley Fofana and Jorrel Hato, all of whom played at least 59 minutes, with Robert Sanchez, Romelu Lavia, Marco Palestra and Josh Acheampong completing the full 90. Substitutes in that game included Geovany Quenda, Nicolas Jackson, Estevao, Mykhailo Mudryk, Reggie Walsh, Mamadou Sarr and Aaron Anselmino.
For the meeting with Johor, Alonso is expected to hand opportunities to a number of Chelsea's younger prospects. Mike Penders is tipped to start in goal, with Tosin Adarabioyo anchoring a defence that could also include Olutayo Subuloye and Mamadou Sarr, who featured briefly as a substitute against Milan and may push for more minutes at centre-back. In midfield, Dario Essugo and Reggie Walsh are among those likely to be given a chance, while Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli, Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap and Dastan Satpayev could all see game time further forward.
Explaining the club's approach to managing the squad's workload across the busy schedule, Alonso said: "The idea, with the game against Milan and then one in Johor, was to arrive at this weekend with players not being ready for 90 minutes until now. We wanted to have a logical progression in their loads, so we had our plan and we've stuck to that."
He added that the decision to rotate heavily for the Johor fixture was made only shortly before the match. "We have another idea [against Johor]; that was decided yesterday (Friday). The idea is that many young players were coming to have chances to play tomorrow. If not, we'd have been short, as playing two games in two days is quite intense. So we will need them," Alonso explained.
The clash with Johor Darul Ta'zim represents the penultimate fixture of Chelsea's pre-season programme. The Blues will conclude their preparations with a match against Real Sociedad the following weekend, before turning their attention to the start of the new Premier League campaign. For those wishing to follow the action in Malaysia, the match is being broadcast live on CFC+, Chelsea's in-house streaming platform, with subscription options including an annual pass priced at £14.99 or a one-off match pass for £9.99.
With minutes at a premium and squad depth being tested across the tour, the trip to Johor offers Alonso a final chance before the season begins to assess fringe players and fine-tune his plans ahead of what promises to be a demanding Premier League campaign.
Based on reporting from Standard Sport (standard-football).