Roberto Martinez says Chelsea have the ‘most influential’ pairing at the Club World Cup, they’re ‘exceptional’

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Chelsea may need to be at their very best to cause an upset this weekend against Paris Saint-Germain.

The Blues are currently preparing for Sunday’s showdown against PSG in the Club World Cup final.

Chelsea have impressed so far at the summer tournament, with head coach Enzo Maresca deserving huge credit for his rotation and tactics. As for Champions League holders PSG, they have steamrolled their way to the final.

Chelsea have banked £86m for reaching the Club World Cup, and it would be great for the players to finish the job this weekend.

Without a doubt, the Blues are underdogs against Luis Enrique’s impressive PSG outfit. In particular, the midfield trio of Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha and Joao Neves looks irresistible for the French giants with the way they operate in and out of possession.

• READ MORE: Thiago Silva shares who he will be supporting out of Chelsea and PSG in the Club World Cup final

Roberto Martinez hails outstanding Chelsea duo Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo

Roberto Martinez, the Portugal manager, has highlighted the quality of Chelsea’s Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo as a combination in midfield. In fact, he’s argued it’s the most influential midfield partnership at the Club World Cup tournament.

“It will be interesting to see if Lavia and Caicedo can be together in the final because they were against Benfica and were exceptional. I’d say it was the most influential no6 partnership alongside Fluminense’s,” Martinez said, as quoted by Nizaar Kinsella on X.

If Chelsea are to overcome PSG in Sunday’s final, it’s likely they will need their midfield at their very sharpest. On paper, they would look extremely strong in the centre of the park with a midfield axis of Lavia and Caicedo behind Enzo Fernandez.

The bad news for the Blues is that Lavia, 21, has missed the previous two knockout rounds through injury. Also, fans held their breath when Caicedo picked up an injury in the final stages of the semi-final victory.

Thankfully, Caicedo was pictured in Chelsea training on Thursday ahead of the PSG clash, but Lavia was missing again from the group (Football.London).

During a recent interview, Lavia claimed he loves playing alongside Caicedo, insisting that he does his job for him. The reality is that they are both extremely efficient in and out of possession, so we would expect them to start together against a juggernaut like PSG if fit.

Chelsea stacked in midfield

Even if Lavia is absent for the weekend, Chelsea still have the midfield depth to try and combat PSG’s brilliance in the centre.

John Obi Mikel stressed Caicedo is key for Chelsea against PSG, so news that the 23-year-old is involved in training should give everyone a lift.

On top of that, Fernandez has played superbly for the Blues in the 2024/25 season, whether that’s deeper in midfield or in more of a box-to-box role. They can also look towards exciting youngster Andrey Santos for a bit more steel, too.

Enzo Maresca would have a serious headache if every midfield was fit at the same time, but it’s unfortunate that Lavia has had so many injuries across the last couple of years because he’s a key piece of the jigsaw.