MetLife waits under New Jersey lights. Chelsea chase a second trophy of the season and the first Club World crown of the Maresca era. The plan has been working; the tweaks are small.
Robert Sánchez keeps the gloves. Reece James returns at right-back to joust with the red-hot Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, his timing and torque vital on that flank.
Marc Cucurella holds left-back against Désiré Doué. In the middle, Levi Colwill is tipped to rejoin Trevoh Chalobah, a left-right balance Maresca trusts when the press bites.
The engine is South American steel. Moisés Caicedo and Enzo Fernández in the double pivot, breaking lines and breaking rhythm, switching from calm to chaos on cue. Ahead of them, Cole Palmer owns the pocket at ten, the pause before the cut.
Wide, Pedro Neto keeps his lane on the right, a runner that forces PSG’s full-back to turn. Christopher Nkunku drifts in from the left, arriving late where defenders hate decisions.
João Pedro, fresh from a brace, leads the line, a wall and a knife, while Liam Delap waits for minutes that demand a sprint.
Maresca will demand control then strike. Compress the pitch. Force mistakes. Win the second ball and play forward without blinking. Against “perhaps the world’s best team,” margins are the match.
It reads simple. It plays brutal. One duel lost becomes a wave. One press won becomes a chance. Keep the shape. Keep the nerve. Chelsea know the route.
Now they must walk it. Tonight, belief must meet perfect detail.