Grosvenor Sport ambassador Jamie O’Hara is on hand to give his predictions ahead of the Club World Cup in the United States, featuring his favourite to win the tournament, top goalscorer and predicted results for two early fixtures.
Outright Winner: Real Madrid 4/1
With Xabi Alonso coming in, I think he’ll want to debut with a trophy. They’ve had a disappointing season by their standards and they’ll see the Club World Cup as a major honour, with a hefty cash prize.
The Champions League is normally their bread and butter, but getting knocked out in the quarter-finals would’ve been a bit of a shock and a reality check! Winning this tournament would provide some compensation for them.
Dark Horse: Atletico 14/1
Atletico Madrid are my dark horse for this competition. Again, they’ll see this as a big opportunity and will want to progress as deep as they can. The cash incentive is a big thing for clubs this season; it can make the difference between signing a good player and a great player in the transfer window.
I wouldn’t bet against a South American side like Boca Juniors getting far either; this competition might be their priority for the full year.
Top Goalscorer: Harry Kane 7/1
Harry Kane is a goal machine, it’s just depends on how determined and how much motivation Bayern Munich have towards the competition – do they want to rest players over the summer or give it a good go?
If they do want to progress, I can see Kane doing some damage, especially against some of the lesser sides that aren’t as fit as Bayern.
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PSG vs Atletico, Sunday 20:00
I’m sure PSG (10/13) will take this competition quite seriously. They’re a young squad who are hungry to win and want to be successful in every avenue. The question is whether the players are fully committed after a long season, especially given their exhaustive campaign in Europe.
If they turn up and are fully focused, they’ll win this tie and should be favourites to lift the trophy.
Atletico are my picks as a dark horse and I think they’ll go far in the competition, but I can see them coming unstuck in their first game against a top PSG team here.
Chelsea vs LAFC, Monday 20:00
Chelsea (3/10) are obviously going to be the favourites, but are they going to pick their key players in the first few games? Los Angeles aren’t a bad team; the MLS sides are really fit and will be able to keep up with the European clubs, it’s just whether they’ll have the quality. But don’t write these MLS teams off.
I’m curious to see how Chelsea set up too – will Liam Delap feature? Andrey Santos looks a good player as well. We might see a very different Chelsea side to the one that finished the season a few weeks ago.