Benfica vs Chelsea prediction: Liam Delap to help Blues to edge last-16 tie | OneFootball

Benfica vs Chelsea betting tips

Chelsea face Benfica in the last 16 of the Club World Cup on Saturday, with the Blues heading to North Carolina hoping to book a place in the quarter-finals.

A simple 3-0 win over ES Tunis meant that Chelsea finished second in Group D on six points, behind Brazilian side Flamengo, and their reward is a last-16 tie against the Portuguese giants.

A 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in their last game of the groups was enough for Benfica to secure first place in Group C, but the Portuguese side are’t fancied ahead of facing the Blues, having finished second in the Primeira Liga last season and drawing with Boca Juniors.

Enzo Maresca’s side may have lost to Flamengo but it is assumed that they will have more than enough quality to beat the Lisbon-based club, with football betting sites pricing Chelsea as 1/2 to qualify for the quarter-finals, versus odds of 6/4 for Benfica to go through.

Benfica vs Chelsea prediction: Blues to book quarter-final place

Both of these sides have had surprising results so far at the competition, with Chelsea’s loss to Flamengo and Benfica’s draw with Boca Juniors perhaps showing that matches in this competition are harder to predict than usual.

The Blues, who are priced at 12/1 in the latest Club World Cup odds to win the competition, suffered just their third defeat in their previous 10 against Flamengo, and have now won eight of their last 10 overall, having scored 20 goals in that time.

However, the match against the Brazilian side showed that Chelsea can be weak defensively against the better teams in this tournament, and Benfica’s record of 27 goals scored in their last 10 matches suggests that they’ll cause the Blues’ defence some issues.

While Benfica beat Bayern last time out, the draw to Boca Juniors was probably the game that best represents the Portuguese side’s true level, and that is one that Chelsea should be able to rise above.

To that end, we think that while a wager on Chelsea to win makes sense, the market on the win and both teams to score could offer better value, with betting sites offering that at around 11/4.

Summer signing Liam Delap scored his first goal as he helped his new club to a 3-0 win over ES Tunis, with the England U21 striker leading the line for a much-changed Chelsea side but making the most of the opportunity presented to him.

The 22-year-old is widely expected to become the starting number nine for the Blues – and has started every match at the Club World Cup too – though his role will be even more pronounced for this match after Nicolas Jackson saw his suspension extended to two matches for the red card against Flamengo.

But he seems to be finding his feet at the club, slowly adapting to new teammates in a Chelsea side that has been changed several times by Enzo Maresca in the opening three matches of the tournament in the USA.

And with big names such as Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo and Reece James likely to return to the side for the match against Benfica, Delap will once again have top-tier service as the Blues look to book a place in the quarter-finals.

Delap has one goal and one assist across his three games so far, and as he’s almost guaranteed to lead the line on Saturday, we think a price of 7/5 on the youngster to score or assist in this match could present good value.

Benfica vs Chelsea prediction 2: Liam Delap to score or assist - 7/5 Bet365

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