Chelsea and Flamengo will face each other later in the week during an important match at the Club World Cup.
In Group D of the Club World Cup this summer, Chelsea and Flamengo are favourites to progress to the knockout rounds.
Premier League outfit Chelsea kickstarted their tournament with a 2-0 win against Los Angeles FC on Monday evening. Elsewhere, Brazilian side Flamengo beat ES Tunis 2-0 in the alternative group fixture.
Next, the Blues face Flamengo on Friday night in Philadelphia, United States.
It’s interesting to note that Chelsea were ranked sixth favourites to win the Club World Cup before the 32-team competition kicked off.
On paper, Brazilian giants Flamengo will provide the sternest test in the group for Chelsea.
It’s interesting to note that Brazilian media has already spotted a couple of potential weaknesses in Enzo Maresca’s side that they expect Flamengo to target. Apparently, Blues full-backs Marc Cucurella and Malo Gusto are two players that are defensively vulnerable, something they showed in the win against LAFC.
Brazilian newspaper Globo wrote: “At half-time, Enzo Maresca took off Romeo Lavia and Reece James and brought on Enzo Fernandez and Malo Gusto. Chelsea gained quality in midfield, but lost strength in defence. If James had been unbeatable in defence during the first half, Gusto had a lot of trouble with Denis Boaunga in the second half. The English full-back is much more secure than the Frenchman defensively…
“In the second half, Los Angeles understood what seems to be Flamengo’s way forward against Chelsea: the flanks of the London defence. Cucurella works as a defensive midfielder or attacking midfielder when the team has the ball, and provides space in the marking on counterattacks. Gusto, if he starts, is inconsistent in defence…
“The defence, however, does give space, especially on the sides of the field. If Flamengo steals the ball from Chelsea and quickly attacks Gusto or Cucurella, they will be dangerous.”
While we agree that Cucurella leaves space behind him when he flies forward in attack, his recovery and defending itself is top notch. Don’t be surprised if the Spanish left-back is asked to be a bit more switch on defensively against Flamengo.
As for Gusto, he did struggle against LAFC after replacing Reece James at right-back. The reality is we expect to see the club captain start over him again versus Flamengo.
Gusto is attracting interest from Bayern Munich in this current summer transfer window, which is slightly surprising because his form has massively dropped off during his second season at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea defence looks as strong as it’s been under Enzo Maresca
We’ve seen a lot of different defensive combinations at Chelsea during Maresca’s first year in charge, but the current state of the backline feels pretty reliable.
Blues goalkeeper Robert Sanchez appears to be in a bit of form. Meanwhile, Trevoh Chalobah or Tosin Adarabioyo provide a great centre-back partner for Levi Colwill. Finally, the full-backs of James and Cucurella look as good as anything around when they are both fit and firing.
Even though Chelsea need to quickly sign cover for Cucurella, he’s been one of the world’s elite left-backs for over a year now. If Flamengo think they can target him, they could be in for a shock because he loves defending 1v1.
As for the right-back spot, James continues to come in and out of the side to help him avoid more injury problems. If he plays, he massively elevates the Blues XI, especially the defence, to a new kind of level.
