Chelsea vs Wrexham LIVE: Date, kick-off time, team news and how to follow pre-season clash as Pochettino takes on Hollywood-backed side

Chelsea begin their pre-season schedule with a glamour tie against Wrexham in the USA next week.

Mauricio Pochettino is already hard at work with his players and Blues fans don’t have long to wait to see them in action.

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The London giants are heading to the States for a mega tour and first on the list is a fixture against the 2022/23 National League champions.

Wrexham are owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney and held off Notts County to win automatic promotion to League Two.

The Red Dragons have a lot of supporters in America, so the atmosphere for this one should be electric.

Chelsea vs Wrexham: Date and how to follow

This pre-season clash is set to take place on Wednesday, July 19th.

It is taking place at Kenan Stadium in North Carolina and kick-off is scheduled for 7:30pm local time.

This means it will start at 12:30am on Thursday, July 20 in the UK.

The game at the 51,000-capacity stadium has totally sold out.

Unfortunately, the match won’t be shown by any UK TV broadcaster but will be available on the 5th Stand App and Chelsea’s website.

5th Stand is Chelsea’s official app and can be downloaded for free on IOS and Android.

talkSPORT will have updates throughout and talkSPORT.com will have all the best reaction.

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

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Chelsea vs Wrexham: Team news

The Blues have pretty much a fully fit squad, with Benoit Badiashile the only long-term absentee.

Ben Chilwell and Reece James are back in training after overcoming the issues that ended their 2022/23 campaigns, while Armando Broja is also fully healed after an ACL injury.

New men Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson are likely to play some part, but Levi Colwill won’t due to his involvement with England at the Euro U21 Championships.

Meanwhile, Wrexham are yet to make a first-team signing, bar Ben Foster putting pen to paper on a new one-year deal.

However, the Red Dragons have been back in pre-season training since June, so they should be able to name a strong squad.

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Chelsea vs Wrexham: What has been said?

Speaking at his first press conference, Pochettino revealed he must earn Chelsea fans’ trust due to his Tottenham past.

He said: “I know I need to build a relationship with the fans. They know me because of my past.

“I know it’s going to depend on how we approach the game. The team needs to be aggressive and engage with the fans.

“If we create something special and the fans feel it then it’s easy to be in the same direction.

“If we are all together then we can compete and beat these amazing teams like Manchester City and Liverpool.

“I’m by far a much better manager now.

“Experience makes you a better manager. I’m a better coach and a better person after my experience outside of the Premier League.

“This is our motivation and challenge. Every day we are trying to prove that we are right, that is part of our nature. We are competitive and we want to be better.”