The Blues return to the US for the second time in three years to play reigning NWSL champions Gotham at the Red Bull Arena, before facing London rivals Arsenal in Washington DC.

In August 2022, we called Portland, Oregon home for the week as our 23-strong playing squad and team of staff prepared to compete in the Women's International Champions Cup alongside Lyon, who were then led by our new head coach Sonia Bompastor, Mexico's Monterrey and the tournament's defending champions and hosts Portland Thorns.

The tournament format saw a double-header of clashes, with Chelsea playing Lyon to open the competition before Portland faced Monterrey. The winner of those games then battled it out in the decider, while the others played for third-place.

But, before we look back at the action on the pitch, here are some pictures of our journey, arrival and first days Stateside!

The first match of the tournament saw a clash of the English and French champions, with it being the first time the Blues and Lyon had met since the 2019 Champions League semi-final.

It was a warm Wednesday night at Providence Park, with more than 10,000 fans watching on, as Chelsea dominated the first hour of the game.

Sam Kerr gave us the lead after only eight minutes with a superb lobbed finish over the Lyon goalkeeper, before Lauren James doubled the advantage in the 51st minute.

However, we went on to lose the match on penalties after Lyon fought back from 2-0 down, with late goals from Lindsey Horan and Signe Bruun, to force the game to be decided from the spot.

Despite the penalty defeat, it was a game where former manager Emma Hayes could take plenty of positives, such as the appearances of four new summer additions: Kadeisha Buchanan, Eve Perisset, Katerina Svitkova and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd.

Although football was our focus in Portland as we put in the hard work ahead of our bid to retain the Women's Super League title, the players had time to enjoy the sights of the city between the matches and sessions on the training pitch. There was even time for some retail therapy at the Nike Company Store!

Our second and final match of the tournament saw us face the hosts Portland Thorns in the first-ever meeting of the two sides. The team were looking to end the tour on a high and they certainly did that by securing a 1-0 win in front of almost 11,500 fans.

There were chances for both sides, with Guro Reiten, Sophie Ingle and Kerr having the most notable efforts for the Blues.

Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger made a stunning stop to deny the Thorns the opener, before minutes later and just after the hour mark, the deadlock was finally broken as Chelsea took the lead through Reiten.

A successful trip Stateside was capped off with a win and plenty of positive preparations for the season that was to come.

• Chelsea's men's team will also be heading Stateside this summer and you can find all the USA Tour 2024 ticketing information for both sides here!