Chelsea are back in FIFA Club World Cup action later today, and there is a chance that Enzo Maresca's team progress into the round of 16 of the competition.
The Blues can progress into the round of 16 with three points at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia today. After winning last time out against Los Angeles FC, a victory over Flamengo will mean the west Londoners are almost there - they will just be relying on LAFC to win or draw against Esperance later in the day.
Should Chelsea pick up three points in their second group stage clash with Flamengo today (2pm local time/7pm UK) in Philadelphia, then the job would be done in terms of qualification. The Blues would be relying on Los Angeles FC, the team they beat on Monday, to avoid defeat against Esperance Tunis in the other match to ensure they qualify as group winners.
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The FIFA Club World Cup will see 32 of the world's best club teams including Man City, Chelsea, Real Madrid, PSG andBayern Munich play across 63 games from June 14-July 13.
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This is because head-to-head takes precedence over goal difference as per the FIFA rules on its revamped competition. At the Club World Cup, the first tiebreaker is teams' head-to-head records. Chelsea have already beaten Los Angeles (2-0 on Monday) and if they were to beat Flamengo today, then they would have the superior record to the Brazilians.
Chelsea have to ensure they get past Flamengo, managed by former Blues full-back Filipe Luis, at the Lincoln Financial Field first. Maresca has confirmed he will rotate his side today from the team that beat LAFC earlier in the week and has also claimed the Brazilian side have the slight advantage when it comes to the boiling hot weather conditions in Philadelphia at the moment.
"It's not easy [playing in the heat] but this is also why we are trying to rotate the players," Maresca said on Thursday. "It's a problem for us, but it's also a problem for some of the other teams."
He added: "They [Flamengo] are a very good team, they play nice football and they have many good players. Their manager is a former player, who played for many years in Europe, so I know him. They are well organised and, like any Brazilian team, full of very good players."