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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Nizaar Kinsella

Chelsea line up Brentford friendly in update to mid-season break plans

Chelsea will play Brentford in a behind-closed-doors friendly next week, in what will be their final warm-up match ahead of the Premier League restarting.

The match will take place at their Cobham training ground on Tuesday, December 20, leaving the Blues a week to prepare for their game against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on December 27.

Chelsea lost 1-0 in a friendly to Aston Villa in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, in which Armando Broja suffered what is feared to be a serious knee injury.

England players Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher have been given a few days off following their World Cup exit at the weekend.

The trio are due back at the end of the week, with Kai Havertz, Cesar Azpilicueta, Christian Pulisic, Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly having already been knocked out of the tournament.

Chelsea are likely to be without Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech against Brentford given both players are playing in the latter stages of the World Cup.

Regardless of the results of their semi-finals with Croatia and Morocco, Kovacic and Ziyech will be involved in the third-place play-off or the final at the weekend

Chelsea are in desperate need of a win at Brentford after four defeats in five matches before the World Cup left them in eighth place.

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