Wrexham will be facing off against Chelsea at the Kenan Memorial Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd of over fifty-thousand people, on Thursday 00.30 BST, as we begin our US pre-season tour.
Phil Parkinson’s men have already begun their pre-season campaign, having played Bala Town in a behind-closed-doors game before flying out to North Carolina.
The Red Dragons ran out 4-2 victors, in a game that saw us boast four different scorers in our final preparations before the US Tour.
Looking to the opposition, this will be Mauricio Pochettino’s first game as head coach of Chelsea, after his appointment at the end of last season’s campaign.
Chelsea have seen a breadth of first team departures prior to this game, but in-turn, have also rebolstered their squad, with the likes of Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson and Angelo Gabriel all joining.
The upcoming fixture will be a good opportunity for both sides to assess how on-track they are with their pre-season schedule with games coming thick and fast in the US.
Chelsea’s squad will consist of the following personnel:
Chelsea’s Travelling US Squad 2023/24
- Kepa Arrizabalaga
- Enzo Fernandez
- Thiago Silva
- Trevoh Chalobah
- Mykhailo Mudryk
- Raheem Sterling
- Ben Chilwell
- Conor Gallagher
- Carney Chukwuemeka
- Noni Madueke
- Marc Cucurella
- Malo Gusto
- Bashir Humphreys
- Gabriel Slonina
- Levi Colwill
- Ian Maatsen
- Andrey Santos
- Cesare Casadei
- Angelo Gabriel
- Diego Moreira
- Nicolas Jackson
- Christopher Nkunku
- Alfie Gilchrist
- Lucas Bergstrom
- Mason Burstow
- Eddie Beach
- Jamie Cumming
- Lewis Hall
A squad with a mixture of international experience and youth will make for an interesting test for Parkinson and his squad, which will in-turn consist of:
Wrexham AFC First-Team Squad 2023/24
- Rob Lainton
- Ben Foster
- Mark Howard
- Callum McFadzean
- Ben Tozer
- Aaron Hayden
- Jordan Tunnicliffe
- Eoghan O’Connell
- Bryce Hosannah
- Jacob Mendy
- Will Boyle
- Ryan Barnett
- Max Cleworth
- Aaron James
- Jordan Davies
- Luke Young
- Liam McAlinden
- Anthony Forde
- Andy Cannon
- Tom O’Connor
- James Jones
- Elliot Lee
- Ollie Palmer
- Paul Mullin
- Billy Waters
- Sam Dalby
New signing Will Boyle will be in contention to play his first game for the Red Dragons, after signing last Thursday.
Boyle was part of the League 2 Team of the Season with Ben Tozer in the 2020/21 campaign, after their title winning year in the backline for Cheltenham Town.
The last time we met
It has been over forty years since the last time we played Chelsea in a competitive fixture, in what is now the Championship.
Chelsea ventured to North Wales for this fixture on the 27th February 1982 and were defeated 1-0 by Wrexham in front of almost four thousand people.
A month prior to this game, the two sides played three games in just over a week in the FA Cup 4th Round, as a second replay was needed to separate the sides, seeing Chelsea progress to the 5th Round after a 2-1 win at the STok Cae Ras.
How to Watch
The fixture kicking off at Wed 19.30 ET / Thurs 00.30 BST, will be available to watch live on ESPN 2, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes and S4C
For more information on how to watch, please visit this article.