Chelsea will play a pre-season friendly in Perth just eight days after the World Cup Final

The Optus Stadium is the third-largest sports venue in Australia, with a capacity of 60,000 - expandable to 65,000
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Simon Johnson8 February 2018

Chelsea are going to fly 9000 miles to Australia within a few days of the World Cup Final to play a pre-season friendly in Perth.

The club have confirmed that they will face Perth Glory on July 23, which is just eight days after the World Cup Final takes place in Moscow.

Chelsea have 17 internationals in their current squad that could all be involved in the tournament, while loanees like Tammy Abraham and Ruben Loftus-Cheek may feature for England having made their senior debuts in November.

It is likely some of Chelsea's World Cup contingent will reach the latter stages and potentially the final itself.

On announcing the friendly, Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck suggested the Blues will select a good side.

He said: "We will be taking a strong squad to Perth as we prepare for the 2018/19 season.

"Of course, we have a long way to go in the current campaign but we can already look forward to an exciting pre-season.

"Optus Stadium will be a fantastic and fitting venue for us to visit our passionate Australian supporters once more and take part in an entertaining match against Perth Glory."

Given the time difference, Chelsea will naturally have to arrive a few days before the fixture in order to adjust.

Chelsea have yet to confirm what the rest of their pre-season schedule will be, although it is believed they have been looking at playing some fixtures in Europe.

The late scheduling of the World Cup Final gives Chelsea very little time to prepare for the next Premier League campaign, which begins on August 11.

Chelsea have always given their players involved in major championships extended time off to compensate for the lack of a summer break.

However, that policy could be complicated by the fact they are expected to replace coach Antonio Conte and his successor, the current favourite being Luis Enrique, will obviously want to introduce his way of working and tactics to his players as soon as possible.

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