John Terry sends crucial message to Chelsea ahead of Club World Cup final

• Chelsea face Brazilian side Palmeiras in the Club World Cup final on Saturday, February 12, having never won the trophy
• Palmeiras are expected to bring up to 15000 fans to Abu Dhabi to cheer on their side in the final
• John Terry has urged his former team to make a positive start in the game to have an edge over their unpredictable Brazilian rivals

Chelsea legend John Terry has offered some golden advice to Blues players ahead of the Club World Cup final against Palmeiras on Saturday, February 12.

The Blues have the chance to make amends for their failure at the same competition in the final 10 years ago when they lost to fellow Brazilian outfit Corinthians.

Thomas Tuchel’s men are strong favourites for the match, but upsets are no strange occurrences in football and Palmeiras are no pushovers by any stretch.

Days before the final, midfielder Jorginho admitted the Brazilian clubs hold the Club World Cup in very high regard, and Palmeiras were likely to give everything to win the final against the Champions of Europe.

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“It is the opportunity for them to play against a team from Europe. For them, that’s a big thing. They are going to come for us. We need to be prepared for that,” Jorginho said as quoted by The Mirror.

Now John Terry has also made it known that he will be keeping a close watch on his former team as they take on Palmeiras.

Taking to his Twitter, John Terry sent a message of encouragement to Chelsea as he urged them to be on the front foot in the game from early on.

“Big game tonight,” he started.

“The one trophy missing from our cabinet. It’s important we start well and don’t give Palmeiras anything in the first 15 mins. Good luck.”

Chelsea team news

Chelsea remain without full-backs Reece James and Ben Chilwell for the clash, although the duo joined the team in Abu Dhabi.

Mason Mount made a brief appearance in the game against Al Hilal and he is expected to at least be on the bench for the Club World Cup final.

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It is highly likely that the Blues will not make too many changes to the side that beat Al Hilal in the semis, with Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz and Romelu Lukaku up front all expected to start

There is still a huge debate online on whether Kepa Arizabalaga should start in goal now that Edouard Mendy is back from the Africa Cup of Nations, but this is Sports Brief’s predicted line up:

Kepa; Christensen, Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Kovacic, Alonso; Havertz, Lukaku, Ziyech