🚨🔵 𝗡𝗘𝗪: @Chealsea have arranged a behind-closed-doors friendly for this weekend against Championship side Portsmouth.

Boss Xabi Alonso has shown a fondness for secret fixtures. Two were arranged at Cobham against League Two Crawley (a 3-1 win) and League One Bromley (a 3-0 win) in the summer before Chelsea embarked on their pre-season tour of Australia and Asia.

The Portsmouth friendly will help certain players improve their match fitness before facing Bournemouth. That includes Marco Palestra, Chelsea's £47m summer signing who is yet to make his competitive debut after a quad injury but has been involved in team training this week.

Chelsea are likely to try to limit any details of their friendly with Portsmouth from being leaked – including who features – to avoid helping Bournemouth.

🔗 Kieran Gill - Daily Mail

#CFC | #Chelsea