Chelsea players celebrate after winning the Capital One Cup. (Photo : Reuters)
The 2015 International Champions Cup continues with the opening matches of Major League Soccer team New York Red Bulls and Premier League club Chelsea FC. The two teams will face each other on July 22 to open their respective stints.
The Bulls, who are participating in the three-year-old tournament for the first time, will host the Blues at their home field, the Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. The ground is said to be the best soccer-specific stadium in North America and can house around 25,000 fans at a time.
The other international team that the Red Bulls are scheduled to host is Portuguese champs SL Benfica on Sunday, July 26.
New York is coming off a 2-0 victory over Orlando City in an MLS game on Saturday, via Fox Sports, which they could use to motivate them against the defending Premier League champions.
On the other hand, Chelsea will come in carrying the momentum of a 1-0 friendly win over Sydney FC on June 2 at the Allianz Stadium in Australia, as reported by The Guardian.
Playing in front of 84,000 fans, José Mourinho's boys were purposely not unleashed in their full-strength yet they still managed to carve out a victory over the 2015 A-League runner-ups.
The prediction is a 2-0 win by Chelsea over the Red Bulls. Jesse Marsch will try to save his A-team for the US Open Cup semifinals if they win their quarterfinal match against Philadelphia Union on Tuesday. The Pensioners will also most likely not field their best lineup, but they are stronger either way.
New York Red Bulls starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Castaño; McLaws, Wallace, Zubar, Duvall; Davis, Felipe, Sam, Stolz; Abang, Grella
Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Begović; Luís, Terry, Cahill, Ivanovic; Matic, Fabregas; Cuadrado, Loftus-Cheek, Falcao; Costa
