Chelsea vs Johor Darul Ta'zim: Lineups confirmed for pre-season friendly in Johor

Chelsea will play Malaysian side Johor Darul Ta'zim in a pre-season friendly at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Johor on Sunday, August 9, 2026. The match forms part of Chelsea’s pre-season schedule under new head coach Xabi Alonso.

Alonso has overseen a mixed pre-season, with Chelsea winning two of four matches so far. The campaign opened with a 6-4 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers, followed by 2-1 and 1-0 defeats to Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus respectively, and a 3-0 win over AC Milan on Friday.

For Johor Darul Ta'zim, the fixture presents an opportunity to measure themselves against a high-profile opponent; the Malaysian side previously drew 0-0 with LaLiga club Elche and beat third-division FC Cartagena 2-0. Chelsea will use the remainder of their tour to evaluate squad options ahead of the new season.

Chelsea’s confirmed starting XI is: Teddy Sharman-Lowe; Mamadou Sarr, Tosin Adarabioyo, Aarón Anselmino; Geovany Quenda, Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli, Dário Essugo (c), Jamie Gittens, Estêvão; Nicolas Jackson, Liam Delap. The listed substitutes are: Gabriel Slonina (gk), Ted Curd (gk), Olutayo Subuloye, Calvin Diakite, Reggie Watson, Mykhailo Mudryk, Reggie Walsh, Ryan Kavuma-McQueen, Dastan Satpayev.

In India the match will kick off at 5:30 PM IST. For live updates and coverage, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or via the Khel Now Android and iOS apps and the publication’s Telegram channel; the piece was written by Sushruta, who has spent over two years reporting on football and other sports.

The fixture is Chelsea’s second match within 24 hours, which will allow Alonso to give fringe players game time and to test the squad’s depth.