Chelsea could face a whole MONTH without a Premier League game as the Club World Cup is confirmed for early February in UAE – leaving Brighton and Arsenal clashes to be postponed
- The Club World Cup has been arranged for between February 3 and February 12
- Chelsea will be Europe’s representative after winning the Champions League
- The Blues will rearrange Premier League games with Brighton and Arsenal
- Chelsea may also need to move a FA Cup fourth round game if they get that far
- The current Premier League leaders could go a month without top-flight football
Chelsea will have to reschedule two Premier League games and possibly a FA Cup tie after their Club World Cup campaign was confirmed for February.
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.
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.
Chelsea will rearrange two Premier League fixtures to take part in February’s Club World Cup
The FIFA tournament will take place February 3 and 12 in the United Arab Emirates
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 be joined by Al Hilal, Al Ahly, CF Monterrey, Auckland City and Palmeiras in the winter tournament. The Club World Cup will also welcome the top-flight champions of the host nation, UAE’S Al Jazira.
Chelsea will enter the tournament at the semi-final stage, with the draw taking place on Monday afternoon at 4pm GMT.
The European champions have won the Club World Cup on each of the last eight editions of the tournament, with Bayern Munich lifting the title in Qatar last February.
The Blues will move top-flight fixtures with Arsenal and Brighton and a possible FA Cup tie
Liverpool were the last English team to win the Club World Cup in 2019, back when the tournament was held in the middle of December.
Jurgen Klopp’s side rearranged just one league fixture against West Ham to take part but could not move their Carabao Cup quarter-final clash away to Aston Villa for the competition which took place in Qatar..
That meant Liverpool’s first-team played twice in the space of 24 hours, with a group of youngsters turning out against Villa for the cup clash, before the first-team played in the Club World Cup half way across the world.
Chelsea will want to join Liverpool and Manchester United as Club World Cup champions
The cup team were thrashed 5-0 by a full-strength Aston Villa side, before Liverpool went on to win the Club World Cup in the Middle East.
Manchester United are the only other English club to win the tournament back in 2008, while Chelsea reached the final of the tournament in 2012 but lost 1-0 to Corinthians in the Japan final.
Liverpool also lost a final to Brazilian opposition in the form of Sao Paulo back in 2005.
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