Club World Cup
2025-06-28 - Benfica vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: FIFA Club World Cup Second Round
Saturday 28th June 2025 - Kick Off 4pm (9pm British Time)
This game is live on TV
Benfica
The end of the domestic season was one of disappointment, but Benfica have shown they still have plenty in the tank as they finished as Group Winners at the Club World Cup. That has actually placed them in what looks to be the 'weaker' half of the Knock Out Bracket after overcoming Bayern Munich in the final Group fixture and Benfica fans will be hoping for a memorable run over the next couple of weeks.
Nothing will come easy at this tournament, especially now we enter the Knock Out Rounds, but Benfica will have picked up some confidence and momentum. They fought back to earn a 2-2 draw with Boca Juniors to open the Group Stage and consecutive wins over Auckland City and Bayern Munich have been earned alongside clean sheets, which will have given the entire squad a boost.
Benfica's draw with Boca Juniors meant they had drawn 4 games in a row in all competitions in normal time, and so it does feel important to have beaten Auckland City and Bayern Munich. Those results have pushed Benfica's unbeaten run to 16 games in all competitions in normal time, although they did suffer a 3-1 defeat after Extra Time against Sporting in the Portuguese Cup Final.
Chelsea
Enzo Maresca will not be judged on how Chelsea perform at the Club World Cup, but this is a Football Club who are used to playing at the highest level. With that in mind, it was important to make sure Chelsea were able to move through the Group Stage at the Club World Cup and they could benefit from the draw going forward.
Changes were made to the starting eleven, but that did not prevent Chelsea from recording a 3-0 win over Tunis to make sure they finished behind Flamengo in the Group Stage. The defeat to the Brazilian club will have stung, but Chelsea have beaten Los Angeles FC and Tunis with clean sheets.
Chelsea were beaten by Newcastle United in the Premier League back in May, but they have since won 5 of the 6 games played in all competitions. 4 of those victories have been earned with clean sheets, although this Second Round fixture looks a significant test on paper.
Nicolas Jackson is suspended and the manager has reminded the press he owes his players a duty of care to rotate them as much as possible in what are incredibly tough conditions in the United States.
Head to Head
Benfica and Chelsea have not met since the Europa League Final back in 2013 which was won deep into injury time by The Blues.
In the season prior to that, Chelsea had beaten Benfica in the Champions League Knock Out Rounds with wins at home and away.
Prediction
Hot and humid conditions are set to test two European clubs in this Club World Cup Second Round in Charlotte on Saturday and it may make things difficult for the attacking players to really express themselves.
Both Benfica and Chelsea have relied on strong defensive shapes to move through the Group Stage and the layers are perhaps underestimating the chance of this being a low-scoring contest.
Benfica topped their Group ahead of Bayern Munich thanks to back to back clean sheets and a win over the German Champions, while Chelsea also earned two clean sheets in the Group Stage. The 3-1 loss to Flamengo is the reason Chelsea finished 2nd in the section and have to take on Benfica, but both clubs may be happy with the way the Knock Out Bracket is shaking up for them.
It is something of a surprise to have Chelsea set as a pretty strong favourite to win this fixture, but it does feel like the first goal is going to be important.
The two teams will both want to make things as difficult as possible for the other to earn that though and this has the makings of a tight, competitive game that could be won by the first goal. Conditions being as they are, it could also be a fixture that sees neither want to take too many risks with set pieces likely to be very important and backing fewer than three goals to be scored looks the right approach.
The Pick :
Benfica 1-1 Chelsea
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Under 2.5 Goals at 1.87 with SportBet.One
