Chelsea travel to North Carolina on Saturday to face Portuguese giants Benfica in the last 16 of the FIFA Club World Cup.
The Blues have won twice and lost once in the competition so far, beating LAFC and ES Tunis either side of a surprise 3-1 defeat against Brazilian giants Flamengo.
Enzo Maresca’s side will be favourites to progress past their Portuguese opponents and into the quarter-finals of the competition, where they would face the winner of the all-Brazilian tie between Palmeiras and Botafogo.
Benfica beat German champions Bayern Munich in the final round of group stage matches, though, and will provide a tough test for Maresca’s side.
Chelsea will once again be without Nicolas Jackson after the Senegal international was sent off against Flamengo, and Maresca is likely to revert to his strongest line-up after making a number of changes to his side for the game against Tunis.
In the meantime, it has emerged that the West London side are not interested in a Premier League goalkeeper despite rumours.
Martinez could leave Aston Villa this summer (Photo: Sipa US/Alamy)
According to Ben Jacobs, speculation that Chelsea are interested in Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez is not true.
Jacobs claims that, while the London side admire the Argentine, they are not currently pursuing a move for the 32-year-old.
Martinez joined Villa from Arsenal back in 2020, having struggled to establish himself in the first team at The Emirates.
Since moving to Villa Park, though, the Argentina international has established himself as one of the best in the world in his position.
In total Martinez has kept 70 clean sheets in 212 games for the Villans, helping them to qualify for last season’s Champions League.
He was also part of the Argentina side that lifted the World Cup in 2022, and has been named FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper of the Year twice.