Benfica vs Chelsea Bet Builder Tips, Best Bets, Stats, Predictions

New signing Liam Delap opened his Chelsea account with a goal in their 3-0 win over Esperance de Tunis on Wednesday. Delap is staking a claim for the starting striker role at his new club, and his cause was no doubt helped immensely when, Nicolas Jackson, his main rival for the spot, picked up an idiotic red card just four minutes after coming on as a sub against Flamengo.

Delap shone in an Ipswich side that always looked doomed to be relegated this season, and he has averaged 1.11 shots on target in club football in 2024/25. Despite playing for one of the weakest sides in the Premier League, the striker was consistently able to test the opposition goalkeeper, and we expect him to do so again here.

The 22-year-old has now had a shot on target in eight of his last nine starts, including both of his starts in the Club World Cup to date. Delap has taken four shots at the tournament, hitting the target with three of these four. Benfica are certainly no mugs, but Chelsea would surely have preferred to face them instead of Bayern Munich, and we expect that Chelsea’s new number 9 will continue his shot on target streak here.

Benfica might be one of the weaker group winners that have progressed to the Last 16, but they still pack a punch, beating Bayern Munich in their final Group C game to snag top spot. If they are to knock out this youthful Chelsea side, veteran winger Angel Di Maria is likely to be key.

The Argentina international has scored 18 times and provided 8 assists from the right-wing for Benfica this season, and has averaged a whopping 3.61 shots per 90, well over the two shots we require for this selection to land. Di Maria has taken at least two shots in five straight starts for Benfica coming into this game, which includes all three Club World Cup games to date.

Chelsea conceded three shots to right winger Gerson in their clash with Flamengo (their toughest Club World Cup game to this point), as well as three shots to Antony against Betis in the Conference League final, and two shots to Anthony Elanga in their final league game of the season, against Nottingham Forest. This suggests a weakness down the left flank which a player as experienced as Di Maria should be well placed to exploit.

Another familiar Argentine veteran makes up the third selection of this bet builder, as we turn to one who also played in Manchester, ex-City defender and fellow World Cup winner, Nicolas Otamendi.

More known for his combative defensive presence, we’re actually backing the 37-year-old centre-half to win a foul here, rather than commit one. Otamendi has won an average of 0.94 fouls per 90 in all competitions this season, and has already won a massive six fouls at the Club World Cup, a tally made even more impressive after he did not draw a single foul in Benfica’s dominant 6-0 win over Auckland City.

With at least one foul won in eight of his last nine starts for Benfica in all competitions, as well as winning a foul in 13 of his last 15 starts for the club, a price of 1.73 to be fouled just once looks very appealing.

Otamendi will also be up against Liam Delap, a prolific fouler, especially for a striker, who averages 2.47 fouls per 90 in all competitions and has fouled in eight of his last nine games, despite starting four of these nine on the bench.

Our final selection sees us backing Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella to be fouled once or more. The low centre of gravity and surprising strength means Cucurella is a frustrating player to get the ball off, which also makes him a player that opponents are likely to foul. His consistent efforts to wind up opponents also mean that the fouls sometimes come entirely intentionally.

Cucurella has won at least one foul in each of his last six starts, and in each of the last eight games in which he played the full 90 minutes. He was rested for the 3-0 win over Esperance, so he should play the full match here.

The Spain international is also fouled more frequently in higher stakes games. If we exclude the Conference League, where Chelsea generally faced much weaker opponents, such as Djurgardens and Legia Warsaw, he has won a foul in 17 of his last 19 starts for Chelsea.

He will be up against Angel Di Maria and Fredrik Aursnes, who have each fouled three times in three Club World Cup games. Looking at Cucurella’s consistency in terms of fouls won, either one could make it four fouls in four here when they go up against the Spaniard.