Chelsea are giving this newfangled Club World Cup thing at least a cursory amount of proper attention while treating it as part of the 2024-25 season still as well, so we might as well do the same thing.
First up in the group stage for us will be Los Angeles FC, the MLS side who ended up replacing Club León in this competition. LAFC are in the middle of their season, with their form improving, so they will pose a pretty good challenge. They finished top of the Western Conference last year before losing in the quarterfinals of the MLS Playoffs.
Chelsea have registered 28 players for the group stage, though only 24 arrived in Philadelphia on Friday, with Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Andrey Santos, and Aaron Anselmino making their own way. Caicedo has been spotted at training today (Saturday), so presumably they’re all here now.
While some have had a couple weeks off since the end of the Premier League season, others have had some international action in the meantime. Three games in eight days await us here, with the easiest coming last. Some rotation will be necessary.
[Choose wisely](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScm0luKdV8c2JOfye8dLYpqpws1YM3915bHRL-0f-IZ2wi-jA/viewform).
([Live results](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScm0luKdV8c2JOfye8dLYpqpws1YM3915bHRL-0f-IZ2wi-jA/viewanalytics))