Inter midfielder Nicolo Barella celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Italian Serie A football match between Inter Milan and Lecce at the "San Siro Stadium" in Milan on December 23, 2023. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)

Inter start Marcus Thuram, Federico Dimarco and Nicolò Barella in a pre-season friendly match against Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea.

It kicks off at 15.00 UK time at Stamford Bridge in London.

The Nerazzurri begin their season proper next weekend with the opening Serie A fixture against Genoa, so this is their last opportunity to perform tactical experiments.

In truth, Simone Inzaghi does not stray far from the 3-5-2 formation that allowed him to win the Scudetto and Supercoppa Italiana last term.

Hakan Calhanoglu is ruled out by a minor muscular injury, joining Piotr Zielinski, Mehdi Taremi and Marko Arnautovic on the treatment table, while Lautaro Martinez only just returned to training a couple of days ago after winning the Copa America with Argentina.

Joaquin Correa therefore starts, despite being transfer-listed, and Thuram gets his first start of the summer.

Chelsea have once again been spending big over the summer and have a huge squad at the disposal of Italian coach Enzo Maresca.

The likes of Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling are left on the bench, while former Inter striker Romelu Lukaku is frozen out awaiting his move to Napoli.

Inter vs. Chelsea line-ups

Inter: Sommer; Bisseck, Acerbi, Carlos Augusto; Darmian, Barella, Asllani, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Correa

Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Fernandez, Lavia; Madueke, Dewsbury-Hall, Mudryk; Guiu

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