Against most expectations, Chelsea have reached the final four of the FIFA Club World Cup, taking advantage of a favorable draw in the knockout rounds after failing to win our group. And circumstances remain favorable at this semifinal stage, as we keep working our way through the cream of the crop of the Brazilian Série A.
Fluminense beat Inter Milan and Al Hilal in the knockout rounds, after notching a win and two scoreless draws in the group stage. With an ageless Thiago Silva anchoring their backline, their success has been built on a solid defense, though there’s plenty of experience, not to mention quality, elsewhere in the team as well. (Silva isn’t event the oldest first-team regular: goalkeeper Fábio is 45!)
With yellow cards not resetting at any point in this competition thus far, we will have both Levi Colwill and Liam Delap suspended for this one. Thankfully, Moisés Caicedo will be back after his suspension in the previous round.
Reece James assured everyone that he’s fit and well after picking up a knock in pre-match warmups on Friday and missing the game against Palmeiras, but we’ll see if that translates into actually being available to play just four days later. Benoît Badiashile and Roméo Lavia both missed out last time as well, and seems likely that they will do so again.
Loading…