Chelsea hope to inflict more pre-season woes on the Bavarians

The champions of Germany take on the champions of England as Bayern Munich face Chelsea in the International Champions Cup.

Singapore National Stadium is the venue for the showdown between two teams coached by Italian tacticians, with Carlo Ancelotti coming up against his former player Antonio Conte in the dugout. Bayern come into the game having suffered two defeats in the tournament thus far, including a humiliating 4-0 loss to AC Milan, but it is a different story for Chelsea, who recorded an easy 3-0 win over rivals Arsenal in their last outing. The game against Bayern will be the first time Chelsea fans get to see new signing Alvaro Morata, who joined the club from Real Madrid last week. Conte has indicated that the striker will play some part in the game, but confirmed that he will not start.

Chelsea will be without the services of Pedro for the remainer of their Asia tour after the Spain international suffered concussion in the win against Arsenal following a collision with David Ospina. The Blues have confirmed that the former Barcelona man suffered facial fractures and will wear a mask, but should return to training in 10 days.

Notable absentees from Chelsea’s pre-season tour squad are Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic, with both players said to be nearing an exit from Stamford Bridge. Bayern full-back Juan Bernat has returned to Germany following the heavy defeat to Milan, after suffering ankle ligament damage during the game.

The Spaniard is scheduled to undergo further examination today, but is likely to miss the Supercup clash against Borussia Dortmund on August 5.

Bernat was replaced by Austria youth international Marco Friedl and the game against Chelsea could be a golden opportunity for the 19-year-old to further impress Ancelotti after putting pen to paper on a four-year deal at the end of last season. Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng and Arjen Robben are not with their team-mates in Asia as the trio put in double sessions back in Munich as part of their respective rehabilitation programmes.

New signings Corentin Tolisso and James Rodriguez have figured prominently for the Bavarians since their arrival from Lyon and Real Madrid respectively and should continue to feature in Singapore. While pre-season friendlies are by no means a solid indicator of how a team will perform in competitive fixtures, there is bound to be a sense of concern creeping in at Bayern after underwhelming performances against Arsenal and AC Milan during this tour.