Premier League champions Chelsea will be looking for an instant reply to their opening defeat in the International Champions Cup when they take on Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday night.
Chelsea went into the first match of the ICC tournament against MLS side New York Red Bulls with three wins on the trot which carried on from the end of the last season with a win over Sunderland on the final day of the season, which saw Chelsea lift their first title in five years.
They carried that form into their post-season matches with comfortable wins over both Sydney FC and Thailand All-Stars which gave them confidence when travelling to the states for their pre-season preparation.
Chelsea's dismal performance against NYRB
Chelsea were runners-up the last time they played in ICC back in 2013 when Real Madrid became the inaugural winners of revamped tournament. However, Jose Mourinho’s side were humbled this time around with Red Bulls subjecting them to a 4-2 defeat on Wednesday.
The London side managed to take the lead through a great strike from Loic Remy in the first-half, however a shocking defensive display in the second period saw new keeper Asmir Begovic ship four goals from; Franklin Castellanos, Tyler Adams and a Sean Davis brace on his debut.
An Eden Hazard consolation wasn’t enough for Mourinho to criticise his players for the shocking defensive display, but has since disregarded the defeat as it was just a pre-season friendly.
Laurent Blanc and his PSG side won’t see it that way as they will look to continue their excellent start to their pre-season campaign.
Like their opponents, PSG carried on where they left off from last season when they secured the domestic treble with a victory over Auxerre in the Coupe de France final, with three wins in three so far scoring 10 goals in those games against Fiorentina, Benfica and Austrian third division side Wiener Sportklub.
Chelsea - PSG in the Champions League
This will be the fifth time that they have met each other in the past three seasons having played each other in the knockout stages of the Champions League in the past two campaigns.
Chelsea got the upper hand back in the 2013-14 season with a late Demba Ba strike sending the London club through to the semi-final of the competition.
It was PSG who managed to get the better of Mourinho this season advancing into the last eight of the competition going through on goal difference.
Blanc has one of the smallest sides available in the ICC tournament making just 11 changes in the two matches so far. The likes of; Zlatan Ibrahimović, Blaise Matuidi and Lucas Moura are all expected to start with new signing Benjamin Stambouli also expecting to start after coming off the bench against Fiorentina.
Mourinho however, is expected to make several changes to his squad after Wednesday’s defeat. Despite letting in four goals on his debut, Begovic is expected to keep his place between the sticks while star striker Diego Costa expected to get the nod over Remy.