Chelsea are off to the Middle East, in the quest to get a piece of silverware as they’ll face Saudi Arabian outfit Al Hilal SFC in the FIFA Club World Cup. They’ll be without their gaffer, as manager Thomas Tuchel hasn’t traveled with the team, due to his having tested positive for COVID-19.
We’ll get to the starting XI prediction, but before we do, we have a few more updated team news items to cover, so let’s dive right in to those.
Club World Cup Semifinals FYIs
Kick: Wed. Feb 9, Chelsea vs Al Hilal
Early Chelsea Team News: go here
Destination: Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Next Round: Sat. Feb. 12, Match 7 (third place): Match 4 losers vs Match 5 losers
Match 8 (final), Match 4 winners vs Match 5 winners
TV: FS2 (Seriously, there is a FOX Sports 2? Do we really need that?)
Chelsea FA Cup Draw 5th Round Draw Analysis: go here
Ruben Loftus-Cheek will miss out due to injury while Reece James made the squad but his participation in this round is a doubt. Maybe we’ll see him on Saturday. Mason Mount, who hobbled off injured in their scare against Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup this past weekend is highly unlikely to feature in this one.
Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy will now rejoin the squad fresh off winning the Africa Cup of Nations, but he’ll no doubt be given some rest before getting back in between the sticks on the club level.
We won’t see him against The Royal Club; ditto for Ben Chilwell, who is out for the season.
Chelsea Starting XI Prediction vs Al Hilal (Club World Cup)
Chelsea (4-3-3): Kepa Arrizabalaga; Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger, Malang Sarr; Mason Mount, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic; Christian Pulisic, Romelu Lukaku, Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
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