8.4% – Why stats back Chelsea above European giants to win Club World Cup | OneFootball

The Club World Cup has kicked off in the USA, and Chelsea play their first group game tomorrow night.

Suddenly a thing which was a curiosity on the horizon has arrived, and it’s time to think about the actual football.

Questions over top teams and their motivation for new tournament

A Chelsea generic group huddle celebration. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

As you’d expect, there are some really top teams in the mix. And despite an up and down season, Chelsea are rated 6th favourite to win the whole thing, with an 8.4% chance.

The real question mark in all this, and the thing that makes is harder to predict than a Champions League campaign, for example, is the question over motivation and fitness for some of the top European teams.

Teams from the rest of the world are considering this the absolute pinnacle, and are loving the chance to go up against the European giants.

Teams like Chelsea who have been out of the Champions League also have a lot to prove.

But does anyone really know how the likes of PSG, Bayern Munich and Man City will take it? Will they prioritise preparing for next season and recovering from last season over going all out in the USA? It’s hard to know until the games kick off.

You can see the image with the full rundown of teams embedded here:

Chelsea placed right back among European elite

It’s interesting to see where the Blues place in the thinking of those outside the club.

We’ve watched them struggle so badly in so many games over the last 3 years, yet here they are, ranked above Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and other Champions League regulars.

Of course we have a bigger budget than all of those teams, plus a lot to prove.