It has been an interesting summer for Chelsea fans. First the Blues were surprisingly defeated 4-2 by the New York Red Bulls, and to the embarrassment of the Premier League champions, the MLS team fielded many of their second-string and youth players against what was a pretty solid side used by Jose Mourinho. Still, they were able to bounce back by edging out Ligue 1 winners PSG and treble-winners Barcelona in their next two games via penalties, and confidence was certainly restored ahead of their clash with Arsenal in the Community Shield this past weekend.
One really could not blame Blues supporters for feeling a tad overconfident in their team's chances against the Gunners. After all, Arsene Wenger had a poor record against Mourinho, with the French tactician still searching for his first win against the Portuguese coach in their last 13 meetings. However, in football, one should really never underestimate their opponents and it would be Arsenal to emerge victorious in the London Derby with a first-half goal from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, marking the first time in over 500 minutes of play that Wenger's men had finally scored against their bitter city rivals.
With the Premier League season now underway, Chelsea will have to turn their attention to concluding their International Champions Cup tournament before kicking off their title defense against Swansea City this weekend. With that in mind, it will be indeed interesting to see what Mourinho opts to do in terms of his personnel selection and line-up. In terms of striking options, supporters will be concerned about the fitness of Diego Costa, with the Brazilian-born Spanish international suffering from yet another unfortuane injury setback. His absence will be even more worrying given that Radamel Falcao did not impress in his outing vs. Arsenal and Loic Remy appeared sluggish and out of sorts before being hauled off in favor of the Colombian.
As for their upcoming opponents, Fiorentina, they will be arriving in London happy with their results from their recent friendly against Barcelona. Given that the Serie A season is not yet really in full swing for most clubs, save for Juventus and Lazio who will contest the Supercoppa Italiana this weekend, the Viola will be surely hoping to wrap up what has been a decent ICC tournament so far. A win against the Blaugrana will have Paulo Sousa's troops feeling confident of their chances against Chelsea and with the exception of a loss to PSG, the Tuscan side have done well so far as their new coach hopes to match the success of his predecessor Vincenzo Montella during the Italian's term in Florence.
Will Chelsea bounce back from their loss with a win at Stamford Bridge? Or will the Viola defeat yet another European champion after earning wins over Benfica and Barcelona?
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