Live and extensive coverage from the Accor Stadium in Sydney as Chelsea’s pre-season officially gets underway against local side Western Sydney Wanderers
Updated 14:44, 28 Jul 2026
Hello and welcome to football.london for live updates from Chelsea’s pre-season opener today against Western Sydney Wanderers.
The Blues have been in Sydney, Australia, since Saturday as preparations for the new season continue under Xabi Alonso. Today (10:45am UK kick-off time/7:45pm local) sees the west Londoners take on the team that finished rock-bottom of the A-League last season.
Alonso is expected to rotate heavily as the game goes on at the Accor Stadium. Usually in these types of matches, the team that walks out for the second half is a completely different line-up than the one the manager starts with. Let’s see if Alonso does something similar today.
There are a number of academy players desperate to make a strong first impression on the Spaniard ahead of his debut season at Stamford Bridge. Likewise, there are a host of first-team stars who may be feeling they have a point to prove today – and in the rest of the summer.
Bobby Vincent is on the ground in Australia and has been throughout the week. Our Chelsea reporter will bring you live updates throughout the match. Grab a coffee and stay tuned!
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FULL-TIME
Wow. Ten goals. Three for Joao Pedro. A thrilling start to life under Xabi Alonso.
GOAL! Chelsea 6-4 Western Sydney Wanderers (Joao Pedro hat-trick)
HAT-TRICK!
Fofana with a header across at the back post and Joao Pedro is in the right place. Hat-trick for the Brazilian in the space of 10 minutes.
GOAL! Chelsea 5-4 Western Sydney Wanderers (Joao Pedro)
Beautiful goal. Joao Pedro slipped in by Palmer and the Brazilian is so calm in front of goal. Chelsea ahead for the first time since 1-0.
GOAL! Chelsea 4-4 Western Sydney Wanderers (Joao Pedro)
Chelsea are level again – Gittens’ cross is headed towards Joao Pedro, who was always going to score. Hard to keep up with this!
GOAL! Chelsea 3-4 Western Sydney Wanderers (Lual)
Lual puts the Australians back ahead. Estevao with a sloppy pass towards Watson and it’s pounced on. Chelsea behind in a seven-goal thriller.
Chance!
Estevao with a good chance after some nice work but the Brazilian’s low strike is easy for the goalkeeper to gather.
GOAL! Chelsea 3-3 Western Sydney Wanderers (Gittens)
Gittens! Joao Pedro sets the winger up. His third goal of pre-season and Chelsea are level. Great play.
Nine Chelsea subs
Coming on for Chelsea: Sanchez, Palestra, Anselmino, Estevao, Colwill, Palmer, Gittens, Joao Pedro and Fofana.
Kellyman came on at half-time but has already been brought off. It looks as if Watson will complete the 90 minutes.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-3 Western Sydney Wanderers (Scicluna)
3-2 Western Sydney Wanderers, Scicluna with a lovely finish. Emenalo fluffs his clearance and gifts Wanderers possession inside the box. Chelsea behind again.
Good chance for Emenalo
Emenalo, who has been super impressive, strikes wide from inside the box after being found via an intelligent Watson pass.
Close!
Watson, a free-kick specialist, hits the set-piece narrowly off target from just outside of the box.
Back underway – two changes
Omari Kellyman and Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli coming on for Chelsea – Dario Essugo and Ryan Kavuma-McQueen off
Half-time Chelsea player ratings
Sharman-Lowe – 6
Subuloye – 6
Tosin – 5
Acheampong – 4
Emenalo – 7
Essugo – 8
Watson – 6
Kavuma-McQueen – 7
Walsh – 7
Satpayev – 8
Delap – 5
HALF-TIME
Half-time in Sydney and it’s all square. Dastan Satpayev and Dario Essugo scoring beautiful goals for #CFC. Xabi Alonso could send out a completely different XI for the second period.
Dastan Satpayev celebrates scoring for Chelsea against Western Sydney Wanderers(Image: Saeed Khan/AFP)
Sitter missed
Tosin with a sitter at the far post from a corner but heads wide.
Delap forces a save
Some more promising play from Essugo to set Delap up and the striker forces a save from Holmes. Corner for Chelsea.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-2 Western Sydney Wanderers
Brilliant one-two from Walsh and Essugo, the latter beautifully sliding the ball into the far corner. Chelsea are level in Sydney.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-2 Western Sydney Wanderers (Hammond)
The Australians are ahead in Sydney. Acheampong got completely done by Hammond, who nutmegged the Chelsea defender, before firing it into the bottom corner. 2-1 to Wanderers.
WATCH: First goal of the Alonso era
Alonso-ball is underway!
GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Western Sydney Wanderers (Pantazopoulos)
We’re level. A header from a corner. Chelsea defence all over the place. Level in Sydney.
Save!
Sharman-Lowe with a great save to deny a low strike from Gillion. Corner.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Western Sydney Wanderers (Satpayev)
It all came from a goal kick – great build-up play from Chelsea. Kavuma-McQueen slides an inch-perfect pass and Satpayev thunders the ball into the top corner. Fantastic goal.
Chance for Wanderers
Hammond with a chance for the Australians after some sloppy build-up play from Chelsea. The Wanderers attacker shoots it well wide, though. Decent chance.
Chelsea shape
A back four, as expected, with Subuloye at right-back and Emenalo on the left. Kavuma-McQueen is on the right wing and Satpayev on the left. Walsh is in the No.10 role with Essugo and Watson the holding midfielders.
KICK-OFF
Underway in Sydney.
Here come the players
The players are out on the pitch in Sydney. Kick-off at the Accor Stadium is imminent.
‘It won’t take much for Chelsea fans to boo Xabi Alonso’
Former Chelsea defender William Gallas believes Xabi Alonso must get off to a good start at the Blues – or face being booed by supporters.
Speaking to talkSPORT Bet, Gallas said:
Sometimes you need someone who knows the history of the club, especially a former player. For example, Xabi Alonso knows the history of Liverpool. But he doesn’t know Chelsea’s story. I’m sure he will learn, but it’s going to be interesting to see how the fans welcome him. Will they clap or boo him? Don’t forget he played for Liverpool, so he still has that connection. If he is the manager, we will see.It won’t take much for people to boo him if the results aren’t good. People will say he’s a Liverpool guy and question why he was brought in. But if he wins games, everyone will forget he played for Liverpool. Time will tell.
‘Champions League is the objective’
Jody Morris believes Chelsea should be looking to qualify for the Champions League this season at least.
Speaking to BOYLE Sports, who offer the latest football odds, Morris said: “As he is the new manager, I imagine there will be a few new additions and adjustments, but the minimum objective for Xabi Alonso is the Champions League. We need to start closing the gap toward the top, and there’s no reason we can’t do it quickly. We don’t want increments like finishing eighth after being tenth.
“Not at Chelsea, not with the money we’ve shelled out and the talent in the squad. Everyone is disappointed because the level of quality we have and the amount spent should not result in the position we were in, it was a disgrace. The performance levels were far below what was expected. Minimum Champions League. I also want to see a change in mentality, I felt we were a bit of a petulant team with too many red cards. As soon as we made a mistake or conceded, we almost looked to fall apart. Under both Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior, the drop-off in games was sometimes astounding.
“You wouldn’t recognise the team from the first half to the second. Sometimes we were poor for the first half and then looked like world-beaters in the second. I would like to get some consistency and for the group to look more mature in their performances. I am excited because I am a Xabi Alonso fan. I loved him as a player, he was outstanding and almost like a coach on the pitch. I am intrigued to see how we play and what the team looks like with hopefully a couple of new additions.”
Former Chelsea assistant Jody Morris(Image: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Team news hint
It looks as if it could be a back four from the start for Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea side…
Chelsea pre-season miles
Following your Premier League club throughout pre-season will come with more air miles than ever for most clubs in 2026. Of the 20 clubs in the division, all but two will be travelling a total distance of over 1,000 miles as they prepare for the start of the 2026/27 campaign. All 20, meanwhile, will be playing in more than one country.
Chelsea’s pre-season tour will see them travel to Australia and Asia, with the team travelling a total of 22,952 miles. Only Tottenham (23,281 miles) will travel more throughout pre-season, according to research from eSIMatic.
Alongside Spurs and Chelsea, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Leeds are the other three clubs travelling over 10,000 miles during their pre-season tours.
Xabi Alonso barking instructions(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)