Club World Cup Day Six Tipsheet: Four bets for Friday including PSG and Chelsea | OneFootball

Club World Cup

PSG and Chelsea are among the teams playing at the Club World Cup on Friday

There are four games at the Club World Cup on Friday and Kevin Hatchard has a selection from each of them, starting with a clash of European and Brazilian champions.

PSG v Botafogo

02:00 Friday

My tip to win the Club World Cup could barely have made a better start, as PSG demolished Atletico Madrid 4-0 in their opener. That scoreline was fairly misleading in truth, as Atletico blew an amazing chance with the score at 2-0, but it was still a continuation of an incredible run of form.

The newly-crowned European champions have won 33 of their last 40 matches, they did the treble of Champions League, Coupe de France and Ligue 1, and they seem to be coping with the fatigue-inducing conditions. Coach Luis Enrique has allowed his players some freedom to spend time with family and friends, to go shopping and to relax in the swimming pool or the sauna. Like a number of European clubs, PSG are trying to use this as an effective bridge between seasons.

Botafogo made a winning start by seeing off Seattle Sounders, and the Brazilian champions are on a run of seven wins in nine. While I expect them to struggle to match PSG here, they have enough firepower to at least trouble the French side. Igor Jesus is a handful up front, and got the winner against Seattle. Artur and Jefferson Savarino offer a threat out wide, with four goals and four assists between them in the opening weeks of the Serie A season.

PSG are a dominant force, but they have a habit of taking their foot off the gas in games they are expected to win, which leads me towards a Both Teams To Score bet at 2.18. In 2025, PSG have failed to keep clean sheets against Saint Etienne (twice), lower league Espaly and Dunkerque in the cup, Le Havre, Nantes and Auxerre.

Benfica v Auckland City

17:00 Friday

Auckland City's 10-0 drubbing at the hands of Bayern Munich has been a tournament outlier so far in terms of competitive balance, and frankly it's understandable that a semi-pro side that plays at a limited level should be crushed by one of the best attacking teams on the planet.

While I don't necessarily expect a similar scoreline here, a determined and attack-minded Benfica should rack up the goals. The Portuguese giants came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Boca Juniors in one of the Club World Cup's best games so far, and they now know that qualification for the last 16 could actually hinge on who inflicts the most pain on the plucky New Zealanders.

I expect Benfica to field a strong team, and I'll back Greece international striker Vangelis Pavlidis to score twice or more at evens. He scored 30 goals for club and country last season, a tally which included a hat-trick against Barcelona. In April, he scored a hat-trick away to Porto and then a double against Vitoria Guimaraes, and he also netted a match-winning brace against England at Wembley.

Against much weaker opposition here, Pavlidis should feast.

Flamengo v Chelsea

19:00 Friday

This game could ultimately decide who wins Group D, with both teams having won their openers 2-0. While Chelsea were deserved winners against LAFC, they did give up some clear chances and allowed four shots on target. Flamengo have some dangerous players who are capable of at least testing Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal.

One of those players is Brazilian forward Luiz Araujo, who scored an excellent goal in the 2-0 win over Esperance, and is on a good run of form. The 29-year-old has started his team's last six games, and has had at least one shot on target in five of those matches. He has also scored four goals in that spell.

We can back Araujo to have a shot on target here at evens, and given that Flamengo are on a run of seven wins and two draws, I think they can at least be competitive here.

LAFC v Esperance

23:00 Friday

Both teams kicked off the tournament with defeats, so this is a game that could make or break their respective campaigns. LAFC competed fairly well against Chelsea, with attacking talisman Denis Bouanga twice testing Robert Sanchez in the Blues' goal, but they ultimately succumbed to a 2-0 defeat.

Tunisian side Esperance didn't really lay a glove on Brazilians Flamengo in a 2-0 defeat, as they managed just two shots on target, and they are the outsiders here in the Match Odds market at 16/5.

I can't get excited about backing the MLS side to win at odds-on, but I'm more exercised by the 13/10 on offer for Bouanga to score at any time. The former Saint Etienne player went into this tournament on a run of eight goals in nine games, and if he is provided with chances against Chelsea, that should happen here too. The Gabon striker has netted an amazing 80 goals in 128 LAFC appearances.

Recommended bets

Back Both Teams To Score in PSG v Botafogo @ 2.18

Back Vangelis Pavlidis to score twice or more @ 1/1

Back Luiz Araujo to have a shot on target @ 1/1

Back Denis Bouanga to score @ 13/10

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Prices quoted in copy are correct at time of publication but liable to change.