Club World Cup: Chelsea faces Al-Jazira
•Auckland City, Al Hilal in their Club World Cup semi-final
Chelsea will face Al Hilal, Al Jazira or Auckland City in their Club World Cup semi-final in February after the draw for the tournament was made on Monday afternoon.
The Blues will travel to the United Arab Emirates for the FIFA tournament between February 3 and 12, having won the Champions League back in May. This means Chelsea will have to rearrange two Premier League games and potentially one FA Cup tie.
The timing of the tournament means Chelsea will see their trip to Brighton on February 8 and their home clash against Arsenal on February 12 rearranged, plus a FA Cup fourth round fixture on February 5 should they make it that far.
It will mean the current Premier League leaders may go a month without playing top-flight football between January 23 and February 19 - which could affect their title battle with Liverpool and Manchester City.
Thomas Tuchel’s side will join the tournament at the semi-final stage along with Brazilian side Palmeiras, who won the Copa Libertadores. They will take on either the winner of host nation Al Jazira versus Auckland City, or Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal in the last four.
Al Jazira earned qualification for the Club World Cup as they are the top-flight champions of the host nation, UAE. Auckland reached the competition after they were nominated by the Oceania Football Confederation whose own Champions League competition was cancelled due to coronavirus.
I wish Chelsea the good luck
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