UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea FC and CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores champions SE Palmeiras will contest the FIFA Club World Cup™ 2021 final on Saturday and a team of technical experts have analysed the strengths and possible weaknesses of both teams using FIFA’s ground-breaking performance analytics. Former England coach Steve McClaren, former Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni and former Switzerland national team goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbühler are in Abu Dhabi as FIFA Technical Experts analysing matches and team trends. They are aided by a team of experts who are analysing every player for every second of every game in a pioneering step that is leading to a swathe of new performance insights in line with FIFA’s vision of increasing global competitiveness through technology.

For each match of the FIFA Club World Cup™ taking place in Abu Dhabi, one member of a team of analysts is assigned to one player on the field to monitor, track and code their individual performance. This intensive analysis means that over 15,000 data points are collected from every game, giving team analysts, coaches, players, media and supporters new insights to help them better understand and enjoy the game. Similar analysis will be undertaken at the FIFA World Cup™ 2022 in Qatar. After analysing this data from Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Al Hilal SFC in the semi-final on Wednesday, McClaren believes controlling the midfield area is crucial to everything Chelsea do. “They dominated that area. And the key is what we call the box,” explained the former England men’s national team coach. “Yes, they have two controllers; they have (Mateo) Kovačić, Jorginho [in] the first half, and then (Kai) Havertz and (Hakim) Ziyech inside right, inside left, just behind the midfield or at the side of Al Hilal’s midfield.

“One of them was always free, Jorginho or Kovačić, and that was the key to it.” McClaren is adamant that Palmeiras must stop this midfield control, otherwise Chelsea’s scorer in the semi-final, forward Romelu Lukaku, could strike again. “If Palmeiras allow that to happen, then Chelsea will dominate possession like they did, they will be able to switch, have width, cause problems down the middle, Lukaku will be able to get the ball into his feet.” “What Palmeiras must do is, like Al Hilal did in the second half, match Chelsea up in that midfield, go man-to-man and, we call it, stop it at source. So, don’t stop it when it’s at Lukaku’s feet, stop it before it gets there.”

Zaccheroni, who has focused on Palmeiras’ 2-0 win over Al Ahly in the other semi-final, also sees the midfield battle being crucial to the Brazilians stopping Lukaku and, therefore, Chelsea. “Palmeiras should do what they know best, sticking to their style. They should arrange themselves with four men in the defensive line and one in front of them in the midfield to act as a barrier,” said the Italian. “Then, if Chelsea play with two second strikers behind Lukaku, it will be important for one defender and one midfielder to double up on these second strikers, because they can be smart and create problems, especially thanks to their dribbling skills.”

Much talk in the build-up to Saturday’s final has concentrated on whether Chelsea will stick with Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal, or switch to regular starter Édouard Mendy, who has joined up with the squad following his African Cup of Nations triumph with Senegal. Arrizabalaga made several key saves against Al Hilal but Mendy is a standout player for Chelsea and the winner of the 2021 FIFA Best™ Men’s Goalkeeper award. Zuberbühler, who made 51 appearances in goal for Switzerland, was left impressed with Kepa’s performance in the semi-final. “He’s an active goalkeeper, he plays high up, he reads the game well, he has confidence to come out of the box and to read the ball between the defensive line, to come out, to play with his feet,” said Zuberbühler.

“It will be special to see if he will play or not, or if he will sit on the bench - it would be difficult to accept if you were Kepa - because thanks to him, after 90 minutes, the game was finished, and they won.” FIFA is pushing for this level of analysis at every competition and after every match at the FIFA World Cup™ in Qatar, FIFA will provide key data points to all 32 teams and will use key metrics to better inform the television audience during live play. Full analysis of the FIFA Club World Cup™ 2021, along with other resources and insights is available to technical experts, coaches and players on the newly launched FIFA Training Centre.