The blues begin their title defence with a fixture against Swansea City on the opening day of the 2015/16 Barclays Premier League campaign. The reigning champions come into this match at the back of a very disappointing pre-season campaign which has seen them losing three of their last five matches.
The two remaining matches which they managed to win were on penalty shoot outs and the confidence will definitely be low in the Chelsea camp especially after a 1-0 loss at the hands of Arsenal in the community shield.
Chelsea were unable to make a strong response to that and suffered a defeat at the hands of Fiorentina in their subsequent outing through a solitary goal from Rodriguez.
Jose Mourinho thus has a number of concerns heading into the opening fixture which also includes an injury to talismanic striker Diego Costa who is doubtful for the opening game.
"I think he's going to train with the team. His reaction to that and confidence to play [on Saturday] is another story," Mourinho said speaking of Diego Costa.
"I have Remy and Falcao," he added. "I go with them like I did in other matches, like I did last season so many times with Remy and Drogba.
"But obviously [Costa] is a top striker, everyone wants top strikers and he’s such an important player for us - not just for the goals he scores but also for the football he produces and the mentality he helps to create in the team."
The Spanish international who was signed from Atletico Madrid last season scored 20 goals from just 26 Premier League games in his debut season at the club and Mourinho is aware of his capabilities of producing match winning performances.
"I prefer a situation where the player is never injured, never has problems and has top level during 10 months of competition," Mourinho continued. "But there is nobody to blame.
"I can’t blame the player because he works hard, harder than before. I trust completely in the medical department so I have nobody to blame.
"I prefer a top player like him who makes a real difference when he is ready than a player who is available all the time and just a little bit better than myself!"
Swansea were a bit uninspiring in their preseason campaign as well having drawn four of their last five games. The Swans however enjoyed an incredible season last time out and will be hoping to build upon that. They will be further buoyed by the arrival of Andre Ayew who is set to make his competitive debut for the club.
Whereas former Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski has committed his future to the club signing a four year extension.
Team sheets for Chelsea vs Swansea City
Chelsea's lineup: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry , Azpilicueta; Matic, Fabregas; Willian, Oscar, Hazard; Diego Costa.
Swansea's lineup: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor, Ki Sung-Yueng, Shelvey, Sigurdsson, Ayew, Montero, Gomis.
Chelsea's subs: Begovic, Zouma, Ramires, Mikel, Moses, Remy, Falcao.
Swansea's subs: Nordfeldt, Rangel, Bartley, Tabanou, Cork, Routledge, Eder.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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