Prediction: Chelsea to win 2-1
Best Odds: 13/2
Benfica and Chelsea will lock horns with each other in the FIFA Club World Cup this coming weekend. The Round of 16 match between the Liga Portugal Betclic club and the Premier League outfit will be held at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is scheduled to kick off at 9pm UK time on Saturday.
Benfica
Benfica are one of the biggest clubs in Portugal and Europe, and they have made a huge impact at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. Not many would have expected As Águias to get out of their group, but they have done just that and with conviction.
Bruno Lage’s side have progressed to the Round of 16 after winning Group C. Benfica ended up with seven points from three matches, a point more than second-placed and Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, whom they beat 1-0 in their final group game to set up the exciting Round of 16 tie against Chelsea.
Lage said: “It’s teamwork. I think it was teamwork, but also we played against Bayern before. And you know how tough they are to play against, so we learned from that game, but more importantly, it’s what we were going to do with the ball.
“And I think we managed very well. When we had time to attack quickly, we did it. But when we had time to control the game with the ball and run with it, we did.”
The Benfica boss added: “We went into this game with a lot of confidence. The first half was very good, we created the best chances to score. We wanted to be aggressive and we finished first in the group and the feeling is good.
“We finished first and it means a lot for us. People need to believe more in the work we are doing. They were speaking about Boca needing to win by a lot of goals (to advance) and they forgot about this game. No one believed we were going to win against Bayern.
“We have a very good group, we are evaluated every three days by the result, but when we win we are not the best and when we do not win we are not the worst.
“Now we have to stay humble, recover, rest as much as possible, understand who our opponents will be and go into the game with the same ambitions.”
Team News:
Benfica are likely to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation against Chelsea. Anatoliy Trubin will be in goal and will have Fredrik Aursnes, Antonio Silva, Nicolas Otamendi and Samuel Dahl in front of him in defence. Renato Sanches and Leandro Barreiro will be the two holding midfielders, with Angel Di Maria, Gianluca Prestianni and Andreas Schjelderup being deployed in attacking midfield. Vangelis Pavlidis will lead the line for Benfica.
Chelsea
Chelsea are one of the biggest clubs in the world and headed into the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup as one of the favourites. Although the Blues have not been perfect, Enzo Maresca’s side have done the business and have set up a clash against Benfica in the Round of 16.
The Blues have finished second in Group D with six points from three matches, a point behind leaders Flamengo. Chelsea needed a 3-0 win against Espérance de Tunis in their final group game to book their place in the knockout stages.
Maresca said: “The performance, for me, was good. It was not easy and until we scored the first goal, it was difficult to break their defensive line down. We were quite patient, and when we scored the first goal, the game became a little more open and a little easier for us.”
The Chelsea manager added: “It’s important for us [to progress] because 32 clubs started in this tournament, now we are going down to 16.
“There are clubs in the last five or six years that have played Champions League finals, like Atletico Madrid, who are back home.
“So we need to be proud and happy – and now we are in the Round of 16, the target is to go through to the last eight.”
On Benfica specifically, Maresca noted: “We know Benfica is a top club, with a top manager, and top players. It’s going to be tough, but from 32 we are now into the Round of 16. And our next target is go into the quarter-finals.”
Team News:
Chelsea are likely to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation against Benfica. Filip Jorgensen will be in goal for the Blues. Josh Acheampong, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile and Malo Gusto will be the four defenders. Romeo Lavia and Enzo Fernandez will be the two holding midfielders. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke will be the three attacking midfielders. Liam Delap will lead the line for Chelsea.
Key Factors to Consider
- Benfica have scored 9 goals in 3 FIFA Club World Cup matches.
- Benfica have conceded 2 goals in 3 FIFA Club World Cup matches.
- Chelsea have scored 6 goals in 3 FIFA Club World Cup matches.
- Chelsea have conceded 3 goals in 3 FIFA Club World Cup matches.
- Chelsea scored 64 goals in 38 Premier League matches last season, while Benfica found the back of the net 84 times in 34 Liga Portugal Betclic games in the 2024-25 campaign.
Conclusion
Benfica have done exceptionally well at the FIFA Club World Cup and will fancy their chances of winning against Chelsea. However, the Blues have the better team, and it is very likely that Enzo Maresca’s side will eke out a narrow win in this particular Round of 16 tie and progress to the quarter-finals of the competition.
Prediction: Chelsea to win 2-1
Best Odds: 13/2
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