Going to the Chelsea game? (Here's my preview from the Saturday paper.) A few things that might help with your planning:

Both upper decks will be opened, creating a capacity of 67,000. With only a few hundred tickets remaining, that means this will be the largest crowd ever to see the Sounders -- probably by a factor of two -- and it might just be the largest crowd ever to see a soccer game in Seattle. (The current record is 66,830, which turned out for the Real Madrid-DC United match on Aug. 9, 2006.) And I imagine that would also be the largest crowd ever to see a soccer match in the Northwest.

Therefore, while the game should be fun, getting to and from the stadium might not be.

One recommendation is to arrive early. And to accommodate those who do, gates will open at 10 a.m. And so you'll have something to do once you're there, soccer celebration activities will begin then at the north plaza.

Fans also are encouraged to avoid South Royal Brougham Way, which will be reduced to one lane and accessible only from Fourth Avenue and only to fans using the Event Center Garage.

Sound Transit is doing its part by running Sounder trains from Tacoma and Everett.

And -- if you're feeling real lucky and have a remarkable amount of faith in government projects -- Saturday also marks the first day that the Link light-rail line will be operating from Tukwila, through the Rainier Valley and into downtown Seattle. However, upwards of 100,000 people are expected to want to be among the first to give light rail a test drive, so good luck with that.

Other things you should know:

March to the Match
Join Sound Wave, the Sounders FC Alliance and fans as they “March to the Match”. The March will depart Occidental Park located in the heart of Pioneer Square at the intersection of Main Street and Occidental Avenue South. The “March to the Match” will depart the park at 10:30 a.m. and finish just outside the Northwest Gate, where fans can enter the stadium.

Soccer Celebration
Soccer Celebration activities are located at the Northwest Gate, inside the stadium at the North Plaza and throughout the Qwest Field Plaza. Activities include inflatable games, face painting, sign making, music and more. Soccer Celebration activities will begin at 10 a.m. and conclude after the match.

Season-ticket-holder tickets
Season ticket holders are reminded that this game shows up as the “A” game on their ticket strip.

And, oh yes, the game:

CHELSEA FC
AT SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
Noon Saturday, Qwest Field.
TV: ESPN2.
Radio: 97.3 FM (in Spanish on 1210 AM).

Notes: Chelsea is the reigning FA Cup champion. Last season, the Blues finished third in the English Premier League. … This begins a four-game U.S. tour for Chelsea. Sounders FC is their only MLS opponent on the tour. After today, the Blues will meet Mexico’s Club America and Italy’s Inter and AC Milan. Chelsea’s EPL season begins Aug. 15 at home against Hull City. … The clubs have agreed to unlimited substitutions. Chelsea officials indicated the Blues will use most of their roster except for their African players who have just returned from national team duty. … England international Joe Cole (knee) did not travel. Captain John Terry is here, amid transfer rumors that dominated Chelsea’s prematch press conference. … This is Chelsea’s fourth game in Seattle. The Blues beat a local amateur side, 5-0, in 1967 at Memorial Stadium; lost to the NASL Sounders, 2-0, in 1977 at the Kingdome; and defeated Celtic, 4-2, in 2004 at Qwest Field. … A natural-grass pitch has been installed for this game.

Next: Houston Galaxy vs. Sounders, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Starfire Sports Stadium, Tukwila; U.S. Open Cup semifinal.

More information on most of this is available at SoundersFC.com.

Chelsea held a morning workout today at the Seahawks' practice facility in Renton.

Here's an interesting report from the Chelsea website.

Just as I was curious about how tomorrow's Sounders-Chelsea game is being viewed in England (see two posts below), the international media visiting the Sounders training session this morning seemed interested in the state of the game in America.

And that was refelected in some of the questions directed at the two Sounders with EPL experience: Kasey Keller and Freddie Ljungberg. Here's some of what they had to say:

=> Read more!

Chelsea practiced this morning at the Seahawks' training facility in Renton.

Then the team returned to their hotel in downtown Seattle. I happened to be there as the team got off the bus and filed through the lobby. For the most part, they were able to go about their business undisturbed, which Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou said was a refreshing change from their celebrity status in England.

"In London it’s quite different," said Kalou, who seems to be a very nice guy (mostly meaning he was game for an interview and gave thoughtful answers.) "Here it’s more quiet. People won’t bother you much. In London it’s more like people taking pictures every five seconds and signing autographs. Here it’s more quiet and we enjoy more to be here."

Kalou said the team has heard that the Sounders are a good MLS team in the middle of its season, whereas Chelsea is just getting back to training for the coming EPL season. But he said they will take tomorrow seriously because they always want to win, and also because they want to impress their new manager, Carlo Ancelotti.

In a brief interview, Ancelotti said he feels no particular pressure as he is about to coach his first game for one of the world's great teams.

"In this work the pressure is normal," he said. "I am happy to be at Chelsea because Chelsea is a great team. I like the work of the players, they’ve started the season very well and they work with very good mental attitude. Tomorrow is the first game of the season, we want to start well, so it is an important game. We want to win and play well."

The Sounders just workout out on the newly installed grass field at Qwest. (I will give the FieldTurf people this much, they've got the color right. I walked out into the stadium bowl and nothing immediately registered with me as looking different.)

Unfortunately, coach Sigi Schmid decided to watch film after practice at the time he usually talks to the media ... so nothing new from him. And also unfortunately, Adrian Hanauer is watching with the Chelsea folks over at the Seahawks training facility ... so I couldn't get any word from him on the Sounders getting outbid by DC United on the U.S. Open Cup Final.

However, the morning wasn't fully wasted in that I did get a chance to chat a bit with a visiting journalist from England. I wanted to get a little sense from him about what this game means over there.

He said the EPL is watching this Chelsea four-game tour of the U.S. -- mostly it marks the Blues' first games under new manager Carlo Ancelotti. He said its unlikely anyone would be too upset if Chelsea lost tomorrow, given that it's their first game about nine time zones from home and under a new coach.

The Sounders are the only MLS team Chelsea will face on this tour of the States, which continues with friendlies against Mexico’s Club America and Italy’s Inter and AC Milan.

David Beckham wasn't much of a factor in the 2009 MLS debut last night at Giants Stadium. At least, not on the pitch, as he didn't figure much in LA's 3-1 win.

There was at least a bump in the stands, where 23,238 showed up. That's way down from the Beckham debuts of the last two seasons; but its almost double the Red Bulls' pathetic average home attendance of 12,702 ... and presumably way over for a midweek game.

From the Sounders' point of view, the attention-getter is that LA is now up to 27 points on the season, just one behind Seattle.

In fact, while Seattle's 28 points are second-most in MLS, there are nine teams with 24 points or more ... meaning at least one of those clubs won't make the eight-team playoffs. And there are two other teams that have reached 20 points.