Into the final: Chelsea are on the verge of glory
Chelsea Football Newsletter
The Blues face the unenviable task of trying to see off the European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final on Sunday but feared they might have to play the match without their best midfielder when he went down injured towards the end of their semi-final victory over Fluminense and then hobbled off.
But Caicedo, who Enzo Maresca said had “twisted his ankle”, returned to training 72 hours before the final in a significant boost to Chelsea.
Midfielder Romeo Lavia hasn’t featured since the round of 16 win against Benfica but was training away from the team ahead of the Fluminense match. Maresca will issue an update on whether he will be available.
Benoit Badiashile was injured against Benfica and may be absent again.
One player Chelsea won’t be able to call upon is Noni Madueke, who has been given permission to travel to return to the UK to have a medical with Arsenal ahead of a £52million move.
Striker Liam Delap was suspended for the semi-final, when Joao Pedro was handed a full debut up front and scored both goals to send Chelsea to the final. Maresca will weigh up whether to start Pedro again or to either play him out wide or keep him on the bench and reinstate Delap to the starting line-up.
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Jamie Gittens and Estevao Willian are joining the Blues after the Club World Cup but have competed for other clubs in the competition so are not available to play.
Chelsea possible line-up (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Neto, Palmer, Pedro; Delap.