Chelsea vs Villarreal: Will Blues build on UCL success in Super Cup clash

Chelsea vs Villarreal: Will Blues build on UCL success in Super Cup clash - August 11

Topics: TV Schedules, Chelsea, Villarreal, UEFA Super Cup

The latest iteration of the UEFA Super Cup will feature Champions League winners Chelsea taking on Villarreal, who triumphed in the Europa League.

Preview: Chelsea vs Villarreal

The 46th installment of the annual UEFA Super Cup match will take place on Wednesday, August 11th as Champions League winners Chelsea look to kick off their season with a win over Villarreal, who managed to beat Manchester United in last season's Europa League final. The Blues notably won their second Champions League trophy thanks to a goal from new signing Kai Havertz, which was enough to deny Manchester City a chance to get their hands on the trophy for the first time.

Chelsea certainly are no stranger to European cup matches. This will be their fifth appearance, after taking part in the 1998, 2012, 2013, and 2019 iterations, and they'll be hoping to win for the first time since 1998, when they defeated Real Madrid. Since then, they've been unable to find a way past Atletico Madrid (2012), Bayern Munich (2013), and fellow English giant Liverpool (2019), but given their very strong showings in pre-season, the Blues will have confidence that they can finally end their 23-year long wait to get their hands on another Super Cup trophy.

Indeed, Thomas Tuchel's men have taken part in four warm-up matches, with wins over Peterborough Bournemouth, and Arsenal, while recording a two-all draw with Tottenham. The same can't be said about Villarreal, with the Spanish outfit failing to win any of their six friendlies prior to this game. Still, Chelsea won't be dismissing the Yellow Submarine so quickly. They're led by none other than Unai Emery, who has made a name for himself in the Europa League due to his success with Sevilla, and notably beat both Arsenal and Manchester United to clinch last season's Europa League prize.

However, Emery has yet to win a UEFA Super Cup, losing in 2014 and 2015, and will be hoping to end his own long wait as his team aim to disrupt Chelsea's plans. Will the Blues triumph, or will they be sunk by the Yellow Submarine?

Team news: Chelsea vs Villarreal

Chelsea: Big money signing Romelu Lukaku could make a cameo appearance if he's signed and registered by end of day on Tuesday, but that is highly unlikely to actually happen. Although Mason Mount, Cesar Azpilicueta, Thiago Silva, and Jorginho didn't feature in any of Chelsea's pre-season campaign, they've all been included in the team for the match. However, fringe and previously on-loan players like Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Ross Barkley, and Davide Zappacosta have been not offered a place in Tuchel's traveling group.

Villarreal: Emery's side are right now dealing with a COVID-19 issue in their ranks, meaning players like Etienne Capoue, Francis Coquelin, Geronimo Rulli and Vicente Iborra could end up missing the trip to Belfast. Meanwhile, Samuel Chukwueze, who has been out for some time due to a hip injury, has returned to training and has been included in the squad for this match, but Dani Parejo will likely not feature due to a calf issue.

Match facts: Chelsea vs Villarreal

Chelsea will be hoping to become the first English team to beat a non-Premier League side in the UEFA Super Cup since Liverpool picked up a well-deserved victory over Russian outfit CSKA Moscow in 2005
The Blues are featuring in this competition for the fifth time, while Villarreal are making their first appearance
The Yellow Submarine are the first debutants since Inter and Atletico Madrid back in 2010
Spanish outfits are the most successful teams in this competition, with 15 titles to date
Chelsea's record against Spanish sides is W19 D17 L10
The Blues have also lost just four of their last 30 meetings with Spanish outfits (W11 D15)
However, Chelsea are the only team to have lost the Super Cup via penalties (on two occasions)
Villarreal's record against English teams is W5 D8 L5