FIFA Club World Cup: Where to watch Al Hilal vs Chelsea live in Feb 9

Topics: TV Schedules, TV Listings, FIFA Club World Cup, Chelsea, Al Hilal Saudi

Chelsea will commence their Club World Cup journey in Abu Dubai with a semi-final clash with Al Hilal Saudi.

Winners of last season's UEFA Champions League Chelsea must defeat Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in Wednesday's Club World Cup semi-final to stand a chance in securing qualification to the final. It has been a memorable past 10 months for the Blues who will be eager to make it three international trophies in a row after their success in the European cup as well as the UEFA Super Cup.

The North London club arrived in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, barely 24 hours after defeating Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup. However, they made the trip without head coach Thomas Tuchel due to his positive Covid result. The former will trust the expertise of his assistant Arno Michels, aided by Zsolt Low and the rest of the back-room staff to fire the Premier League club past their opponents.

Unlike Chelsea who only joined the competition in the semi-final, Al Hilal will be hoping to build on their success from quarter-final and potentially defy the bookies' prediction. The Saudi Arabian club took on Al Jazira Club on Sunday, registering a 6-1 win to progress to the semi-finals. Their appearance at the intercontinental championship was made possible after winning the AFC Champions League, defeating Pohang Steelers in the final of the tournament in November.

The Blue Waves will go into the meeting with Chelsea on the back of eight wins, seven draws and two losses in the 17 Saudi Professional League games they have featured in this season. At the moment, they sit in fourth spot in the table, boasting 31 points, 13 points behind leaders Al-Ittihad. Undoubtedly, an extra effort will be required from Leonardo Jardim's men considering the level of perfomance Chelsea will bring into the encounter.

Team news

Al Hilal have no injury concerns to contend with ahead of their semi-final match-up with Chelsea on Wednesday. Manager Leonardo Jardim will have a fully-fit roster at his disposal as he readies himself to lead his team to a huge upset.

All Set for #ClubWC semifinal against Chelsea #AlHilal #AlHilal_inWorldCup pic.twitter.com/HCNAOyKt8B
— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) February 8, 2022

Former Watford and Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo is one of the former European players who now plays for the Saudi Arabian team and will be hoping to make real difference against Chelsea. The Blue Waves will also have former West Brom winger Matheus Pereira at your disposal, as well as Moussa Marega and Andre Carrillo, who both featured in the Primeira Liga in the past.

On the contrary, Chelsea are still missing Ben Chilwell and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who are both out with injuries for the time being. Edouard Mendy, the AFCON champion, will not be involved in the game while Mason Mount and Cesar Azpilicueta have been included in the squad despite picking up knocks against Plymouth last time out.

Prep done, matchday comes next. pic.twitter.com/8XIjQI5pKz
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) February 8, 2022

Predicted line-ups for Al Hilal vs Chelsea

Al Hilal predicted starting XI: Al Maiouf; Abdul Hamid, Hyun-Soo, Ali Bulaihi, Al Shahrani; Kanno, Cuellar; Marega, Pereira, Al Dawsari; Ighalo.
Chelsea predicted starting XI: Kepa; Sarr, Rudiger, Chalobah; Alonso, Kovacic, Saul, Hudson-Odoi; Havertz, Mount; Werner.

Key stats

Chelsea will be competing in their second FIFA Club World Cup, and their first since losing 1-0 to Corinthians in the final in 2012.
In the last round, Al Hilal rallied from behind to defeat Al Jazira 6-1, becoming only the second team in FIFA Club World Cup history to score six goals in a single game.
Al Hilal is making their second appearance at the FIFA Club World Cup, after finishing fourth in the previous edition.
Chelsea has only lost one of their last 15 games (W8 D6) in all competitions.
This will be the sixth time an English team has competed in the FIFA Club World Cup, with four of the previous five teams reaching the final.