The Frank Lampard era at Chelsea continues with their second pre-season friendly of the summer against League of Ireland side St Patrick’s Athletic.
The Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by Bohemians in Lampard’s first game in charge on Wednesday. Michy Batshuayi gave Chelsea an early lead but a last-minute strike from Eric Molloy denied the new boss an opening game victory.
Former England midfielder Lampard returned to Stamford Bridge earlier this month, signing a three-year contract after leaving Championship side Derby.
St Patrick's Athletic are currently fifth in the League of Ireland and were beaten 2-0 at home to Swedish side Norrkoping in a Europa League qualifier on Thursday.
| Game | St Patrick's vs Chelsea |
| Date | Saturday, July 13 |
| Time | 2pm BST / 9am ET |
TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch
For UK readers, get your fix on the latest football on TV here! US readers can find out what soccer is on TV here!
Next Match
In the United States (US), the game can be streamed via chelseafc.com or The 5th Stand app.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| n/a | chelseafc.com / The 5th Stand |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game can be streamed via chelseafc.com.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| n/a | chelseafc.com / The 5th Stand |
Squads & Team News
| Position | St Patrick's squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Murphy, Maher, Clarke |
| Defenders | Webster, Bermingham, Toner, Desmond, Kelly, Madden, Cleary |
| Midfielders | Doona, Forrester, Lennon, Coleman, McCabe, Clifford, Markey, Miele |
| Forwards | Shaw, Brennan, Clarke, Kavanagh |
St Patrick's starting XI: Murphy, Cleary, Webster, Kelly, Bermingham, McCabe, Markey, Forrestor, Clarke, Doona, Walker.
| Position | Chelsea squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Kepa, Caballero, Cumming |
| Defenders | Azpilicueta, Zappacosta, Zouma, Ampadu, Alonso, Christensen, David Luiz, Emerson, Tomori, Maatsen, |
| Midfielders | Kovacic, Kante, Jorginho, Drinkwater, Barkley, Bakayoko, Kenedy, Mount, Palmer, Gimour |
| Forwards | Pedro, Batshuayi, Giroud, Abraham, |
Chelsea starting XI: Caballero, Zappacosta, Tomori, Luiz, Emerson, Jorginho, Mount, Kovacic, Barkley, Abraham, Batshuayi.
Betting & Match Odds
Chelsea are unsurprisingly heavy favourites and can be backed at 1/14 with Bet365 . A draw is priced at 9/1, while a St Patrick's win is on offer at 16/1.
Match Preview
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Frank Lampard insists that fitness rather than results is the priority as his squad make their first tentative steps into pre-season.
The new Chelsea manager has been subjecting his squad to double training sessions as he looks to get the players into shape ahead of the new campaign.
The Blues still looked rusty in their opening game of pre-season against Bohemians in midweek.
They will again be expected to win the final game of their Irish tour against St Patrick’s but Lampard wouldn’t be concerned if they didn’t.
"I want to stretch them because that’s what pre-season is all about,” said the former England midfielder.
“We wanted to win (against Bohemians) obviously because you always do but it’s not about that at this point – it’s about individuals getting fit and pushing themselves to the limit.
“I have a way of working that can be taxing on the players and we wanted to get straight into it. We have to because we want fitness and intensity in our game. I’m happy not just with how they’ve practically done things but with their attitude in taking everything on.”
Like many of the top sides Chelsea will cross the globe as they prepare for the 2019-20 Premier League season, travelling more than 13,500 miles.
After Saturday’s game they will head to Japan to take on J-League side Kawasaki Frontale and Spanish giants Barcelona.
They then return to England to face Championship side Reading at the Madejski Stadium before trips to Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Monchengladbach.
A familiar face on Saturday will be St Pat's midfielder Conor Clifford, who captained the Chelsea to Youth Cup success in 2010, scoring the winning goal in the final against Aston Villa.
“It'll be good to see a few of the old faces as the kitman and a lot of the medical staff are still the same,” said Clifford, who left Chelsea in 2013.
“I loved my time at Chelsea. I won the Youth Cup, played a lot of reserve games and trained regularly with first-team squad and the best players in the world.
“Lamps (Lampard) looked after me really well. We sat down for lunch every day and we’d stay out after training to strike the ball.
“He was great with the young players. He’s such a legend of the game and it’ll be great to catch up, say hello and ask him for a trial!"
