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Chelsea expected to sign off Far East Tour with victory

Batshuayi has staked a claim for a Blues starting place

Chelsea frontman Michy Batshuayi has netted three goals in his two pre-season matches
Chelsea frontman Michy Batshuayi has netted three goals in his two pre-season matchesCredit: Laurence Griffiths

Chelsea v Inter Premier Sports, 12.35pm Saturday

Man City v Tottenham Premier Sports, 11pm Saturday

Real Madrid v Barcelona Premier Sports, 12.30am Sunday

Chelsea have had mixed fortunes in pre-season, winning 3-0 against Arsenal and losing 3-2 defeat to Bayern Munich, but they are odds-on favourites to sign off their Far East tour with a victory over Inter in Singapore.

The Blues are still going through the process of adapting to life without centre-forward Diego Costa, who has been told he can leave the club.

Michy Batshuayi has staked a claim for the centre-forward position with three goals in two matches but Blues boss Antonio Conte will want more of a look at new-signing Alvaro Morata, who made his Blues debut against Bayern, coming off the bench in the 63rd minute.

Eden Hazard continues to recuperate from an ankle operation and centre-back Tomas Kalas has flown back to England after signing for Fulham on a season-long loan.

Kyle Walker signed for Manchester City from Tottenham just 15 days ago and is getting ready to face his former teammates in an International Champions Cup match at the Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

City took just one point from their league matches against Spurs last season but were 4-1 winners against Real Madrid on Thursday and are favourites to register a second success in three days.

Tottenham are the only Premier League team not to have made a signing this summer but they have done well enough in the US, winning 4-2 against Paris St-Germain and losing 3-2 to Roma.

City are expected to hand some playing time to David Silva for the first time on their tour but cannot call on new signing Benjamin Mendy, who has a muscle strain.

Real Madrid get the chance to respond to their heavy loss to City when taking on Barcelona in Miami.

But Real will not be able to field Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been given extra time off after taking part in this summer's Confederations Cup.

Barcelona are expected to deploy a full-strength attack featuring Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.

They are searching for a third win at the International Champions Cup, having defeated Juventus (2-1) and Manchester United (1-0).

Arsenal are 4-7 to beat Benfica in their Emirates Cup game (Quest, 4.20pm). Red Bull Leipzig play Sevilla in the opener (Quest, 2pm).

Paris St-Germain are 8-11 to beat Monaco in the French Trophee des Champions final (BT Sport 3, 8pm).

Dan ChildsRacing Post Sport

Published on 28 July 2017inFootball tips

Last updated 18:48, 28 July 2017

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