Chelsea vs PSG – Team News: Star signing starts but midfield controversy continues | OneFootball

Chelsea face PSG at New York in the Club World Cup final in just over an hour, and the teams are in!

This is going to be a tough game whichever way you slice it, and it was fascinating to see what direction Enzo Maresca was going to go in.

In the end, his biggest call is in the midfield, as ever. Romeo Lavia is on the bench, with Reece James in midfield and Malo Gusto at right back.

This is controversial with Chelsea fans for a few reasons – firstly because they don’t want Gusto in the team, and secondly because they want James in his best position. Lavia is a quality player and does that job better than James – so why change things?

Of course there’s a chance that Lavia isn’t fully fit, but we’ve seen Maresca use this setup before and we’re not convinced that’s the reality.

Here are the full team line-ups for PSG vs Chelsea (kick off at 20:00 GMT)

CHELSEA:

Chelsea’s team for the Club World Cup final.

Maresca pick Palmer wide right in strongest team

The rest of the team is what you would expect on the evidence of this tournament so far. Robert Sanchez in goal, Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah at centre back with Marc Cucurella at left back. Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez play with James in midfield, while the in form pair of Joao Pedro and Pedro Neto are in the attacking line.

That means star man Cole Palmer will play from out wide again, a solution we’re seeing more and more of in this squad is it allows us to accommodate more of our central talent.  The fact Maresca is using that setup tonight tells you a lot about his plans for the season ahead.

This is a huge and fascinating game and we can’t wait!