Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has disclosed that the Blues are not favourites to win the Club World Cup title.
Chelsea take on a Fluminense side who have proven themselves as the surprise package of the tournament, knocking out Champions League runners-up Inter Milan before dispatching Saudi government-backed Al-Hilal to reach this stage.
Despite its high position in the table, Maresca played down hopes of Chelsea clinching the Club World Cup.
“No, I don’t think that Chelsea is the favourite,” he told TribalFootball. “I think that at this point, there is no favourite.
“At this point, the teams that have come here, it’s because they deserve it, because they have something good, and they have to do everything to try to win and get to the final.”
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Levi Colwill and Liam Delap are out of the clash after both picking up a second yellow card in Chelsea’s dramatic 2-1 win over Palmeiras, while Romeo Lavia has also been confirmed unavailable by Maresca after suffering a muscular problem against Benfica. Moises Caicedo, however, is back in contention.
“I think already in the last game we had Romeo out, Moises out, Reece [James] out and we found a solution with Andrey [Santos],” Maresca said. “Now with Levi and Liam out, we’re going to find a different solution.”
The Italian manager says new signing Joao Pedro is ready to step up to the plate and make his full Chelsea debut if called upon in Delap’s absence.
“Joao is ready, also Nico [Jackson],” he added. “For sure we’re going to find a solution.
