Club World Cup: Palmeiras vs Chelsea – Preview, lineups, our tips

Everything to play for today as the Club World Cup semifinals loom — Brasileirão giants Palmeiras have had a stellar run in the U.S. tournament so far, but now their biggest challenge awaits: English staples Chelsea.

Here’s the Sporting Base’s guide and insights for this all-important quarterfinal match-up.

How to watch

• When: Saturday, 11am (AEST)
• Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
• Watch Every Game Free On DAZN By Clicking Here

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Expected lineups

• Palmeiras (4-2-3-1): Wéverton, Giay, Micael, Fuchs, Vanderlan, Martínez, Ríos, Estêvão, Torres, Allan, Roque
• Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sánchez, James, Adarabioyo, Colwill, Cucurella, Santos, Fernández, Neto, Palmer, Madueke, Jackson

Palmeiras vs. Chelsea prediction

This is the two sides’ first meeting since the 2021 Club World Cup final, where Chelsea eked past a dominant Palmeiras in extra-time to take the championship, though that was in the old, much-smaller competitive format.

This time around, both teams have had full bracket runs after groups — though this Sporting Base writer would argue neither has truly been tested up to their quarterfinals meeting. That makes each a fairly unknown quantity when it comes to a heavyweight battle, and so then it would be quite easy to point to Chelsea’s clear on-paper supremacy as the decider.

We’re going to go the other way, though; Palmeiras has shown us more to suggest they can go through.

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We only have to look at how Flamengo rattled the Blues in groups to see how their Brazilian cousins, El Verdão, could fight to victory. There are some issues, including the fact that their Round of 16 heroes, defenders Gustavo Gomés and Joaquín Piquerez, are both suspended, but with Micael and Vanderlan most likely coming in, there shouldn’t be any great change at the back.

This is also the perfect chance for Brazilian young gun Estêvão Willian to show Chelsea exactly why they bought him for €57 million — he’ll join them once the tournament is over — and this writer suspects he’ll step up big time with the chance.

Chelsea certainly has the talent to make the semifinals, but it won’t be their day this time around.

• Our prediction: Palmeiras 2–1 Chelsea
• Goalscorer tip: Paulinho (off the bench again)
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