Chelsea v Johor: Predicted line-up, injury news and how to watch
Chelsea v Johor Darul Ta’zim brings the Blues’ pre-season tour to a close on Sunday, with Xabi Alonso expected to make major changes less than 24 hours after beating AC Milan.
Chelsea produced their best performance of the summer on Saturday as João Pedro scored twice and Moisés Caicedo added a superb third in a 3-0 victory in Jakarta.
There is little time to recover. Alonso’s squad now head to Malaysia to face Johor at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 1pm BST on Sunday 9 August.
Chelsea’s official website confirms the Johor fixture is the final game of the club’s five-match tour of Australia and Asia.
Heavy rotation is therefore expected.
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Chelsea FC vs Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
🗓️ Sunday, 9 August 2026
⏰ Kick-off: 8:00 PM
📍 Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, Johor
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Chelsea v Johor predicted line-up
Alonso named a strong side against Milan, with Robert Sanchez, Marco Palestra, Josh Acheampong and Romeo Lavia among those who completed the entire game.
Cole Palmer, João Pedro, Pedro Neto, Wesley Fofana and Moisés Caicedo also played substantial minutes.
That should create opportunities for players who were either unused or only briefly involved on Saturday.
Mike Penders is a strong candidate to start in goal, while Tosin Adarabioyo, Mamadou Sarr and Tayo Subuloye could come into the defence.
The Standard also expects Dário Essugo, Reggie Walsh, Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap, Dastan Satpaev and Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli to push for significant minutes.
Delap should have a particularly good chance of leading the attack after being kept fresh against Milan.
Gittens is another player who could benefit from the schedule, while Essugo and Walsh would allow Alonso to rest Caicedo and Lavia in midfield.
Penders; Anselmino, Sarr, Tosin, Subuloye; Essugo, Walsh; Nicoll-Jazuli, Satpaev, Gittens; Delap.
That would represent a completely different starting XI from the one used against AC Milan.
ReadChelsea previously highlighted the selection problem Alonso faced because of Chelsea’s unusual 24-hour turnaround.
Sunday should provide the other half of the squad with their opportunity.
Chelsea injury news vs Johor
Chelsea have not announced a significant fresh injury problem following the Milan victory at the time of writing.
Instead, workload is likely to dictate Alonso’s selection.
Lavia completing the full 90 minutes was particularly encouraging after his injury problems, but playing him again less than a day later would be an unnecessary risk.
The same applies to Palestra, Acheampong and Sanchez after they also completed Saturday’s match.
Alonso has enough depth on tour to make extensive changes without asking those players to handle consecutive starts.
How to watch Chelsea v Johor
Chelsea against Johor Darul Ta’zim kicks off at 1pm BST on Sunday at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Johor, Malaysia.
The match will be available to watch live through CFC+.
Chelsea have confirmed that every men’s first-team pre-season match is being streamed through CFC+.
A CFC+ annual subscription costs £14.99 in the UK, while Chelsea also offer individual pre-season match passes for £9.99.
Sunday represents Alonso’s final opportunity to assess his players on tour before Chelsea return to England.
After several senior players strengthened their positions against Milan, those handed an opportunity against Johor now have the chance to do the same.
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