Benfica vs Chelsea: Tips, Odds, and Match Preview

It is confirmed. Benfica will face Chelsea in the second knockout game of the newly expanded Club World Cup. The teams will meet at the Bank of America Stadium on Saturday, June 28th, for the first time since the 2013 Europa League finals.

Benfica Pulls a Stunt

The Eagles punched their knockout ticket after an unexpected 1:0 win over Bayern Munich in the closing round of the group stages. The win propelled them to the top of Group C, a point ahead of the favoured Bavarians and five above third-place Boca.

But the Club World Cup campaign did not start well for the Portuguese runners-up. Bruno Lage's men had to sweat it out against Boca Juniors by coming from 2:0 down to level the game in the 84th minute. Auckland City was a cruise control 6:0 win, which put them in an itching position of having to beat the Bavarians to progress.

But they did it, thanks to Andreas Schjelderup's early opener and the team's steadfast defence, which, admittedly, was on the back heel for most of the second half.

Benfica Injury & Suspension News

The duo of Alexander Bah and Manu Silva stayed home with ACL injuries and won't be able to help the team on Saturday. Alvaro Carreras remains suspended, but Belotti is back for his two-match ban. Lastly, defender Thomas Araujo, who attracts interest from PSG, might miss the game due to injury.

Chelsea Taking Care of Business

With two wins out of three, Chelsea secured second spot in Group D with a single point behind Brazilian outlet Flamengo. Enzo Maresca's side opened the tournament with a comfortable 2:0 win against LAFC before capitulating to Flamengo in an exciting 3:1 showdown despite leading at halftime.

The decider against Tunisian side Esperance, who were level on points with the Londoners at the time, was anything but competitive. With the help of new signing Liam Delap, the Blues put three past the Tunisians and booked the bout with Benfica.

Chelsea won all three competitive games against the Portuguese side—a 3:1 aggregate in the 2012 UCL quarterfinals and a 2:1 victory in the 2013 Europe League finals. Branislav Ivanovic scored a stoppage-time header to give Chelsea their first EL title.

Chelsea Injury & Suspension News

The London Blues have no fresh injuries or suspensions ahead of Benfica. Nicolas Jackson is the only player missing on account of serving his second match ban for seeing red against Flamengo.

Benfica vs Chelsea Prediction

Benfica is undefeated within 90 minutes in the last 16 matches, and Chelsea has a tall order on their hands breaking the stubborn Eagles' defence down. However, the London Blues have won all three matches against Benfica so far, and I’m backing them to do the same.

It's not going to be an easy ride, though. It might take some extra time.

CryptoGamba tip: Chelsea to qualify – 1.59 @BC.Game