The round of 16 in the Club World Cup is here, and with Benfica and Chelsea meeting, it’s a match that shows the tightening of the tournament. Both are teams who expect to win their respective domestic leagues, and while that didn’t happen last season, strong performances in the CWC will go a long way to set them up for success in the coming season. Chelsea have already been working to get Liam Delap integrated during this tournament, which is paying off.
Scoring his first goal for the club in their victory over Esperance, he’ll need to start again with Nicolas Jackson suspended for their round of 16 clash. Benfica secured quite a result in upsetting Bayern Munich to win the group, but reaching this stage, no matches on the horizon will be easy ones. Angel Di Maria has been a critical part of their exploits, and they’ll need more from him to keep their run in the tournament going.
Here are storylines, how you can watch the match and more:
How to watch Benfica vs. Chelsea, odds
- Date: Saturday, June 28 | Time: 4 p.m. ET
- Location: Bank of America Stadium — Charlotte, North Carolina
- Live stream: Watch on DAZN (for free)
- Odds: Benfica +270; Draw _230; Chelsea +105
Last meeting
It has been quite a while since Benfica and Chelsea last met. The duo last played in 2013 in the Europa League. Chelsea won that match behind two Juan Mata assists and a Branislav Ivanovic stoppage-time winner. That’s quite a blast from the past, considering that Coventry City manager Frank Lampard was still in midfield for Chelsea at the time. No player who started that match will be involved in this one, but these teams do have a little history between them.
Predicted lineups
Benfica: Anatoliy Trubin, Sanyek Dahl,Nicolas Otamendi, Antonio Silva, Leandro Barreiro, Renato Sanches, Fredrik Aursnes, Kerem Akturkoglu,Gianluca Prestianni, Angel Di Maria, Vangelis Pavlidis
Chelsea: Filip Jorgensen, Malo Gusto, Benoiit Badiashile, Tosin Adarabioyo, Reece James, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto, Liam Delap
Player to watch
Liam Delap, Chelsea: Hitting the ground running during this tournament with a goal and an assist, this will be Delap’s biggest test yet. He has settled in well after joining Ipswich Town, and familiarity with Enzo Maresca has been helpful, but games like this one will show if he’s ready for Champions League play. Expectations will be high when wearing the number nine shirt at Stamford Bridge, but coming into the season having already secured silverware could be quite a boon for the young forward’s confidence. Even if Chelsea don’t win the Club World Cup, a deep run will go a long way.
Storyline to watch
Are Chelsea ready for the Champions League? This upcoming season is a big one with Chelsea returning to Champions League play under Maresca. The squad will need to be trimmed since he can’t play a different squad for European competition as he can for the Premier League. It’ll be a test in rotation as well to prove he’s the man for the role long term at Chelsea. Matches like this one against Benfica are previews for the season, even if Chelsea’s business isn’t done, which is why winning is critical.
Prediction
Chelsea will maintain enough possession in order to hold off Benfica while Delap finds the back of the net again. With these teams, it will be a low-scoring affair, but the Blue won’t mind as long as they come out on the winning end of the clash. Pick: Benfica 0, Chelsea 1
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