Joao Pedro scored twice as Chelsea marked the Indonesian leg of their pre-season tour with a comfortable 3-0 win over Milan.

The Brazilian forward, who, like Cole Palmer, was deployed behind striker Danny Welbeck as head coach Xabi Alonso tested out an alternative formation, headed home late in the first half before bundling home not long after the break to send Chelsea on their way to victory at Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium (GBK) in Jakarta.

Moises Caicedo put the icing on the cake with an eye-catching volley from a Pedro Neto corner as Chelsea humbled Ruben Amorim’s side.

Liam Twomey breaks down the main talking points.

Joao Pedro’s pre-season promise persists

One of the biggest reasons to be bullish about Chelsea’s prospects this season is that Joao Pedro has benefitted from a golden confluence of circumstances, borne of a summer of enforced rest after being overlooked by Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti for the World Cup.

Maximum energy, maximum motivation. That has certainly appeared to be the case for the 24-year-old in Australia and Asia, but making an impact against AC Milan carries a bit more weight for the Premier League season ahead than ripping apart Western Sydney Wanderers.

Alonso took the opportunity in his 3-4-2-1 system to take a look at Joao Pedro in the left pocket rather than as a No 9, and he responded by serving a reminder that he is very capable of sniffing out goals even when the attacking ecosystem around him is less than fully functional.

A well executed shoulder into the chest of Lorenzo Torriani bought him the separation he needed to head Moises Caicedo’s inswinging cross into the far corner at the end of a first half low on action, and he timed his run to the back post to perfection shortly after the interval to meet Pedro Neto’s inviting delivery and earn himself another tap-in.

Wherever he is deployed, Joao Pedro will fancy his chances of beating his tally of 20 goals across all competitions last season and if he does, Chelsea’s attack will have a high floor.

Joao Pedro has scored four goals for Chelsea during pre-season (Peksi Cahyo/Getty Images)

Caicedo’s volley steals the show

Did we just witness football’s first-ever impudent screamer?

That’s probably one for my colleague Adam Hurrey to adjudicate but Caicedo certainly lived up to his reputation for only scoring certified bangers here.

As a move, it evoked memories of a classic Paul Scholes strike from a David Beckham corner kick against Bradford City in 2000 (look it up if you haven’t seen it): an inviting chip towards the edge of the penalty area met with a volley into the bottom far corner.

But unlike the Scholes hit — a gloriously pure connection with the laces — Caicedo’s effort was almost 70 per cent flick with the outside of his right boot, which somehow still generated both the power and the spin to take it in a graceful arc into the unguarded corner of the net.

UNREAL 😳 pic.twitter.com/i8aB30QQVY

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 8, 2026

Moments of such quality are rare in pre-season games and this might be the best Chelsea pre-season goal since Pedro’s sublime backheel volley against RB Salzburg in 2019.

It was also Chelsea’s second corner-kick goal against Milan. Is new set-piece coach Austin MacPhee already making an impact?

Adaptable Alonso tries out a new approach

Nothing in Chelsea’s team news indicated that Alonso was about to dabble in a more Bayer Leverkusen-ish system against Milan in Jakarta.

It wasn’t until the players lined up for kick-off at GBK Stadium that it became clear this would be a 3-4-2-1 shape rather than the 4-2-3-1 that Alonso had favoured for the first three games of Chelsea’s pre-season tour. Key to that shift was the versatility of summer signing Marco Palestra, who switched from right-back to left wing-back, with Neto on the opposite flank.

Part of Alonso’s thinking was likely a desire to match up with new Milan coach Ruben Amorim’s favoured system and this tactical similarity contributed to the low-action stalemate that unfolded for much of a turgid first half.

Chelsea’s starting line-up contained three central defenders, including Josh Acheampong, left (Peksi Cahyo/Getty Images)

He may also have been curious to see Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro operating in the two pockets behind a central striker — an alignment which could be replicated on a regular basis this season, albeit with the Brazilian as a No 9 and Morgan Rogers behind him.

The initial returns on that were underwhelming. Chelsea’s attacking play continues to lack true fluidity and Palmer and Joao Pedro in particular have plenty of work to do on their chemistry, hardly helped by the humidity and poor pitch quality that Alonso’s men have encountered for much of this tour.

But elsewhere, this system showed promise. Palestra’s frequent surges on the left underlined again that he will be key to making Chelsea a more vertical team with the ball, while Neto took his defensive responsibilities seriously and provided a valuable source of creation in the final third, picking out Joao Pedro for a goal with a trademark inswinger.

It is too early to know exactly how Alonso will line up against Fulham on the Premier League’s opening weekend but it would be no shock to see Chelsea in a 3-4-2-1 system against certain opponents or for stretches of games this season.

The Boston Red Sox will attempt to keep a nine-game winning streak going when they host the Athletics at 4:10 p.m. ET on Saturday. Jake Bennett (7-4, 2.90 ERA) gets the start for the Red Sox, who are 64-51 this season and third in the AL East. Gage Jump (4-7, 4.59 ERA) is starting for the Athletics, who are 45-71 and fourth in the AL West.

How to watch Athletics vs. Boston Red Sox

Athletics vs. Red Sox odds

• Favorite Moneyline: Red Sox -278
• Underdog Moneyline: Athletics +220
• Total: 9
• Total Over Odds: -115
• Total Under Odds: -105

Injury reports

Red Sox

Curtis Mead: 10 Day IL (Hand), Isiah Kiner-Falefa: 10 Day IL (Forearm), Adley Rutschman: 10 Day IL (Wrist), Tanner Houck: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Zack Kelly: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Trevor Story: 60 Day IL (Abdomen), Garrett Crochet: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Roman Anthony: 60 Day IL (Wrist), Johan Oviedo: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Kutter Crawford: 60 Day IL (Wrist), Triston Casas: 60 Day IL (Knee), Willson Contreras: day-to-day (Illness)

Athletics

Nick Kurtz: 10 Day IL (Thumb), Shea Langeliers: 10 Day IL (Knee), Zack Gelof: 10 Day IL (Knee), Josh Kuroda-Grauer: 10 Day IL (Testicle), Justin Sterner: 15 Day IL (Knee), Jeffrey Springs: 15 Day IL (Hip), Denzel Clarke: 60 Day IL (Foot), Brooks Kriske: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Mark Leiter Jr.: 60 Day IL (Hip), Brent Rooker: 60 Day IL (Knee), Luis Severino: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Gunnar Hoglund: 60 Day IL (Knee)

Stats to know

• Wilyer Abreu is hitting for a .256 BA, .331 OBP and .462 SLG with a 20.7% strikeout rate and a 10% walk rate. His OPS is .793 and he has scored 64 runs. In 492 plate appearances, he has hit 20 home runs and driven in 62 runs. Abreu has been crafty on the base paths, recording seven steals on 11 attempts.
• In 461 plate appearances, Ceddanne Rafaela is hitting .289/.329/.471 with a .800 OPS and 16 steals on 23 attempts. He has hit 15 long balls, driven in 60 runs and scored 60 times.
• Sacramento’s Tyler Soderstrom is slashing .245/.340/.467 this season with 18 home runs, 53 RBIs and an OPS of .806. He has a 19.1% strikeout rate and an 11.9% walk rate in 430 plate appearances, and he has scored 54 total runs.
• In 315 plate appearances, Jacob Wilson has slashed .268/.299/.388 this season. He has hit seven long balls and driven in 36 runs with a strikeout rate of 11.7% and a walk rate of 3.8%. He has stolen four bases on four attempts and has scored 33 runs.

This watch guide was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.

Betting/odds, ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

Photo: Jamie Squire, Ishika Samant, Scott Taetsch, Alika Jenner / Getty Images

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Aneyas Williams sprinted between Notre Dame’s practice fields on Friday morning, out of habit and intention. The junior running back is in a hurry, no longer blocked from the field by the two first-round picks. And Williams knows he might as well get extra conditioning when he can, creating habits for the rest of Notre Dame’s running backs at the same time.

Williams will try to replace Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, an impossible task everywhere but inside the running back’s own head. Williams played just six games last season after suffering a serious right elbow injury in training camp. He was never right, playing just 47 snaps and logging only 24 carries, even though they went for 224 yards and five touchdowns.

No one really noticed, not with Love and Price in the backfield.

Still, Notre Dame didn’t go into the portal last winter, happy with its running back hand where Williams might be an ace, even after winter surgery to repair a partially torn triceps and clean up the elbow. He enters training camp as Notre Dame’s starter without the Irish acknowledging it. But it appears that time is coming soon.

“He may be the most confident kid I’ve ever been around. And that’s rare,” said running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider. “The kid earned the right to play. And that’s what (we) like about him.”

At first glance, Williams’ confidence might seem underserved considering how little he’s played. Yes, there was that 36-yard catch to help beat Penn State in the Orange Bowl, with Seider on the other sideline. “One of the biggest catches ever,” Seider said. “Sent my ass home crying.” And yes, he averaged 9.3 yards per carry on last season’s limited work, which would have ranked second nationally if Williams had appeared in three more games. But Williams played just one snap against Miami. He didn’t play against Texas A&M or USC, the only other high-stakes games on the schedule.

When Notre Dame had a chance to back Williams with reps, it voted for Love and Price.

Yet, when Marcus Freeman was asked about Notre Dame’s emerging leaders before training camp opened last week, he noted Williams set the tone for the running back room, which includes Nolan James Jr., Kedren Young and Jonaz Walton … a group with 14 career carries and no big moments. That’s part of all this running during practice, because nobody ever followed somebody who was walking.

“Man, I’ve been waiting two years … and I wasn’t satisfied with last year at all,” Williams said. “Coach Seider knows that.”

Aneyas Williams appeared in just six games last season, playing 47 snaps and logging only 24 carries. (Eakin Howard / Getty Images)

Williams wore out Seider this offseason, trying to get inside his position coach’s brain in what might be a contract year. If Seider was going to coach Williams like an RB1, he needed Williams to see the game as he did. A former college quarterback at West Virginia, Seider coaches his position like a coordinator, asking the running backs to get closer to a quarterback’s understanding of scheme.

Now, when Williams questions Seider on a play, Seider knows where Williams is coming from. And when Seider asks Williams to correct a technique, the running back doesn’t need a translator.

“Bowling, golfing, over at the house. I can’t get rid of them during the spring and summertime, which is a good thing,” Seider said. “That’s where we build confidence, because that’s what allowed me to coach them. And they know it’s coming from the right place.

“In my mind, I’m anticipating the ball is going to cut back, and he can tell me why. And I can trust him now on understanding that. Because, hey, we’re in Year 2 together. We’re talking the same language. We trust because we’ve seen it work. He saw two guys developing that he played with. And he felt like he was as good as those guys.”

Williams won’t be a like-for-like replacement for Love or Price, though. He’s never hurdled anyone or defied the laws of physics like Love did. He hasn’t brought back kickoffs for touchdowns against USC or helped Notre Dame win at Texas A&M as Price has. But Williams can offer things that Love and Price did not, mainly helping in short yardage.

When Williams was a freshman, he carved out a role helping on third down and turning his fire hydrant physique into a battering ram. The Irish struggled in short yardage most of last season, unable to get Love or Price loose. Williams seems to have a knack for moving the chains, even when it takes getting dirty. A third of Williams’ carries went for first downs last season, the highest percentage of Notre Dame’s backs.

“One-on-one matchups in short yardage, that’s what we’re trying to create, and I want to win that one-on-one matchup every time because that’s my role,” Williams said. “I think I just (have) the right mindset, the right feel, and I’m not going to be stopped.”

When quarterback CJ Carr took a collection of Notre Dame’s receivers to Jacksonville to throw during the offseason, Williams tagged along. He didn’t want to miss a moment. When the Irish opened camp, it was Williams taking first-team reps. And when Notre Dame kicks off against Wisconsin next month, odds are Williams will get the first carry.

He believes he’s simply Notre Dame’s next great back, following Love, Price, Audric Estime and Kyren Williams, without taking a back seat to them. That became even clearer after Friday’s practice when Williams was asked whether the NCAA’s shift to a five-for-five eligibility rule would favor him, wiping last year’s slate clean after burning a year of eligibility by playing in just six games.

“I never plan on using it,” Williams said, “To give you an honest answer.”