Chelsea will be facing Palmeiras in the Club World Cup finals after defeating Al-Hilal in the semis. The fixture will take place on 12th February at 10:00 pm IST at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium. Chelsea will be playing their only second CWC final in their history. Whereas, Palmeiras lost in the semi-finals last year to Tigres.
Both clubs have not won the Club World Cup before and now have a chance to change their history. Chelsea does look the favorites to lift the trophy but Palmeiras will be equally motivated to bring them down. The Blues lost to a Brazilian side Corinthians in the 2012 Club World Cup Final. Palmeiras will use this to their advantage to scare Chelsea.
Since 2012, a Champions League titleholder has never lost the Club World Cup final and Chelsea will want to keep that tradition going. However, since it is very rare for a club outside Europe to win the CWC, Palmeiras will throw everything at it to change this stat. Palmeiras will have a point to prove to all the clubs who mocked after their elimination from CWC last year.
Chelsea form in all competitions: L D W W W
Palmeiras form in all competitions: W W D W W
Team News
Chelsea vs Palmeiras: The Blues team news
Reece James and Ben Chilwell will not be available for Chelsea again but they have joined the camp with their teammates. Mason Mount also featured against Al-Hilal coming off from the bench and could get some minutes here also.
Edouard Mendy joined the Chelsea camp after winning the AFCON with Senegal and will be available for selection. However, Kepa Arriazabalaga has handled things well under Mendy’s absence and should again start for Chelsea. The Blues will avoid making more changes to their lineup that faced Al-Hilal in the semi-final.
Chelsea possible starting lineup
Kepa Arrizabalaga; Andreas Christensen, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger; Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Marcos Alonso; Kai Havertz, Romelu Lukaku, Hakim Ziyech
Palmeiras vs Chelsea: The Alviverde team news
Palmeiras will also be tempted to play the same team from the semi-finals. A strong display from them along with the key roles of Raphael Veiga and Dudu going forward could again be seen against Chelsea.
Luan and Gustavo Gomez are a strong center-back pairing along with further protection from Danilo and Ze Rafael in the midfield. It might be difficult for the Chelsea attack to break down the Palmeiras defense.
Palmeiras possible starting lineup
Weverton; Marcos Rocha, Gustavo Gomez, Luan, Joaquin Piquerez; Danilo, Ze Rafael; Dudu, Raphael Veiga, Gustavo Scarpa; Rony
Our Predictions
Chelsea 2-1 Palmeiras
Chelsea might keep the tradition going of a Europen winner. Moreover, Cesar Azpilicueta will be the happiest man if Chelsea wins this trophy as he was there when they lost it. Palmeiras will put on a tough fight for Chelsea and the match has the potential of more than one goal. Usually, Club World Cup matches have a 1-0 scoreline but that may not be the case in this match.
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