The road to the title narrows in the USA as the FIFA Club World Cup hits the quarter-final stage. Our feature columnist, John Newsome, dives into the latest clashes with his signature wit and sharp insight. Don’t miss his latest Club World Cup Highlights and Predictions. You can view all previous analysis from John’s regular column here.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at the time of publication.
Club World Cup (CWC)
Quarter-Finals
Friday 04th
FLUMINENSE v AL-HILAL
Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida
20.00 in England
DAZN and Channel 5
Fluminense blew away Inter Milan who weren’t at the races in the Sun of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Four Brazilian teams progressed to the last-16, however, with Palmeiras facing Botafogo, 1 would always be eliminated.
It now means 2 of the teams from Brazil head to the Quarter-Finals.
Goals from German Cano and Hercules gave Fluminense the victory over Inter Milan by a 2-0 scoreline.
The Old Boy Thiago Silva, now aged 40, had a brilliant game against Inter, showing the youth of Milan how to play football.
There was a Big Party in Rio De Janeiro after that result!
Al-Hilal, Remember the Name!
The Saudis stunned Pep’s Low Flying Blues on Tuesday by scoring 2 goals to equalise City’s 2 and take the game into Extra-Time.
Marcos Leonardo and Malcom with the goals.
It was then an extra 30 minutes which saw Kalidou Koulibaly score to put Al-Hilal in front.
City quickly equalised but there was still time for Marcos to score his 2nd and the winner in the 112th minute to shock Man City and progress to this Quarter-Final from a 4-3 score.
Just over a month ago, Al-Hilal’s Manager Simone Inzaghi was in charge of Inter Milan and saw his Internazionale team hammered by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League Final.
Inter were knocked out of this Club World Cup a couple of hours before Al-Hilal took to the field, so Mr Inzaghi will be pleased about that one.
It’s now whether the Saudi Arabia team can progress any further and make a name for themselves.
The Manchester Ball Thrower and the Iccle Fat Penistone Lad are constantly telling jokes in the ‘Three Amigos WhatsApp Group’ along with John Newsome.
(It’s a constant party in our lives!)
Jokes such as,
‘What would Robbie Williams do if he were a Mathematician?
Robbie would be ‘loving Angles instead!’
Or,
‘The wife said she’s thinking of divorcing me because I am obsessed with football.
I am gutted as we’ve been together 27 seasons!’
One didn’t say the Jokes were funny but just a bit of harmless fun.
John’s Joke of the Day on Tuesday was,
‘Man City’s Defending!’
Mr Guardiola needs to sort that out before the New Premier League Season starts or it will be another tough campaign for the Citizens to endure.
Man City will always score goals, no doubt about that but it’s no point scoring 3 and then conceding 4.
John Stones was on the bench against Al-Hilal but didn’t see any game time and has not played since February.
Maybe, John is past his ‘sell by’ but that won’t be confirmed until the Barnsley Stone makes a reappearance in a City Jersey.
John might just be what Man City need at the moment, so for the Citizens’ sake, hopefully John Stones can get back on the pitch in the not-too-distant future.
Not to give Pep Guardiola advice but hopefully the City Manager said to the Boys on the plane home,
‘Have a few weeks away from football, go on a holiday, sit on a beach and sink some lagers then come back for pre-season towards the end of July!’
It really is what the players need!
We will not mention the Racehorse and the Donkey Joke!
Betfred offer Fluminense at 15/8, the Draw at 12/5 and 6/4 for Al-Hilal to progress to the Semi-Finals.
Al-Hilal Win 1-3- Get 18/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Saturday 05th
PALMEIRAS v CHELSEA
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
02.00
DAZN and Channel 5
Palmeiras gained a victory over Botafogo in the all-Brazilian last-16 clash.
A 1-1 draw was predicted in this EveryTip column which, although neither team scored, the game did eventually end in a draw by a 0-0 score after 90 minutes.
It was then an extra 30 minutes to play.
Palmeiras scored the only goal of the game after 100 minutes to run out winners by a 1-0 scoreline and set up this tie against Chelsea, being one of only two Brazilian teams and for that matter, South Americans, left in the competition.
Chelsea’s last-16 clash against Benfica also finished in a draw after 90 minutes, however, the game did have an interesting set of circumstances.
Reece James scored after 64 minutes to give the Blues a lead.
With 86 minutes up on the clock, the referee decided that the weather was too severe (a bit of rain about) and took the players off, supposedly for safety reasons.
The players eventually returned after a 2-hour delay to finish off the final few minutes.
Benfica were then awarded a penalty in the 92nd minute given by the dreaded VAR, which was converted meaning a further 30 minutes of play.
Within 2 minutes of the restart, the Portuguese had a player sent off, which Chelsea immediately took advantage of and scored a further 3 goals, eventually winning the game after nearly 5 hours by a 4-1 score.
Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall with the extra-time goals.
The 5 hours total to finish the game shouldn’t hurt the Blues, who are all set for this last-8 clash with a great opportunity to head to the Semi-Finals.
Chelsea have signed Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund for a fee of around £55 Million.
Whilst both teams are in the USA competing in this Club World Cup, Jamie won’t be turning out for either club and will join up with the Blues after the tournament.
That said, Chelsea have also brought in Brighton’s Joao Pedro who is eligible to play and could feature today against Palmeiras.
The Blues have signed Joao for around £60 Million.
That’s now Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Joao Pedro, 3 great additions which means that Chelsea are going to be a force next season.
It’s just whether Enzo Maresca can find his best eleven to try and compete with Liverpool and Man City who will once again be the main players in the 2025/26 Premier League season.
Arsenal need a Striker to push on from the last 2 seasons and will fall short (again) if a top-class goal Scorer is not brought into the Emirates.
There will be more Transfer Talk in an EveryTip Premier League Preview at the beginning of August in anticipation of the upcoming 2025/26 campaign, so make sure one keeps coming back and checking out EveryTip.
Betfred offer Palmeiras at 11/4, the Draw at 23/10 and 23/20 for Chelsea to progress to the Semi-Finals.
Chelsea Win 1-2- Get 8/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN v BAYERN MUNICH
Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta
17.00 in England
DAZN and Channel 5
What a game to finally get the Club World Cup up to standard.
It’s fair to say the tournament has at times been a bit stagnant but in truth, the last 8 teams will sort the men from the boys.
Paris Saint-Germain easily swept aside Inter Miami scoring 4, 1st-half goals.
Joao Neves scoring a couple and Achraf Hakimi with the 4th.
Miami scored an Own Goal to make it 3-0.
Lionel Messi was a bit part player and tried his best against his old mates but in truth, Lionel, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets all looked like Old Men playing the Youths on the park.
Inter Miami have had their moment in the Sun and has put Sir David Beckham’s team briefly on the World Stage but Miami were no match for the recent Champions League Winners and would have probably seen a similar result against the other Top European Teams in this Club World Cup.
It was always thought that the Brazilian teams plus the other South Americans were more excited about the CWC than the Europeans, however, although it is in the middle of the Brazilian season and at the end of a long hard campaign in Europe, the European clubs are matching the South Americans with Chelsea, PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund all progressing to the Quarter-Finals.
Bayern easily swept aside Flamengo in the last-16 stage, with that man Harry Kane scoring twice in the victory over the Brazilians by a 4-2 scoreline.
An Own Goal and a Leon Goretzka strike made up the 4.
The ex-Chelsea and Arsenal Midfielder Jorginho converted a penalty for Flamengo.
A quick note regarding Harry’s opening goal, the goal was from a superb strike with HK’s left foot from outside the area.
Although Flamengo had already scored an Own Goal, making it 1-0 to Bayern, because it was an OG, it meant that the ‘First Goal Scorer’ market was still in play, meaning the betting companies paid out when Harry scored, so it’s worth bearing this in mind when placing a ‘Player To Score First’ bet.
Betfred offer Paris Saint-Germain at 5/4, the Draw at 11/4 and 21/1 for Bayern Munich to progress to the Semi-Finals.
PSG Win 4-2- Get 40/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
REAL MADRID v BORUSSIA DORTMUND
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
21.00 in England
DAZN and Channel 5
This could have been billed as Bellingham v Bellingham, Jude versus Jobe, however, Jobe went a spoiled all that by being shown a Yellow Card against Monterrey meaning the Younger Bellingham Brother misses this clash against Real Madrid and his Older Brother.
A single Gonzalo Garcia goal, scored early in the 2nd-half gave Real the victory over Juventus by a 1-0 score, setting up this mouthwatering clash against Borussia Dortmund.
As mentioned, Jobe Bellingham received a Yellow Card against Monterrey, his 2nd of the tournament, so he will miss this game today.
Two early goals from Serhou Guirassy gave Dortmund a lead at the break against the Mexicans.
The daft thing about Jobe’s booking was that Dortmund had already scored the 2 goals so were comfortably in front.
Monterrey did score a goal after the break but ultimately that turned out to be just a consolation with Borussia Dortmund getting the victory by a 2-1 score.
Whilst it is a bit of a blow not being able to see Jude v Jobe, one’s sure Real Madrid will come up against Borussia Dortmund in the future, more than likely in next season’s Champions League.
Betfred offer Real Madrid at slight Odds On 4/6, the Draw at 10/3 and 4/1 for Borussia Dortmund to progress to the Semi-Finals.
Real Madrid Win 2-1- Get 7/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
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