Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter in Atlanta

Los Angeles FC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris admits Chelsea are at a "different level" and that his side are the minnows of the group at the Club World Cup.

The former Tottenham captain, now 38, will face English opposition again at the tournament in the United States at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

When asked about LAFC's prospects, after they won a play-off match against Mexican side Club America, he said: "We have nothing to lose, especially against an opponent like Chelsea. It will be hard, European clubs can do everything quicker.

"We come here with a lot of humility. We just take it game by game. I cannot hide that the standard of the other opponents are higher than ours. Especially Chelsea, then Flamengo and Tunis is a competitive club in Africa.

"Listen, we just want to come here to enjoy the competition, try to get the best result we can but we also have to be realistic, to compare an MLS game and a Club World Cup game is really hard."

Simon Stone
BBC Sport chief football news reporter

Image source, Fifa

Club World Cup officials will use an accelerated semi-automated offside technology that will tell them to stop the game immediately if a player who is more than 10cm offside touches the ball.

It is one of the most significant initiatives being introduced for the 32-team tournament in the US and is aimed at reducing needless delays.

Assistant referees will receive the notification instantly rather than having to wait for the technology to check positions and distances - as is the case with semi-automated offside (SAO) systems used in most major leagues.

SAO was introduced into the Premier League on 12 April, before which the video assistant referee (VAR) made all offside rulings.

The introduction of the enhanced SAO comes a month after Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi suffered a serious abdominal injury after crashing into a post during their Premier League draw against Leicester. He had been chasing the ball despite a clear offside that had not been given.

Among the other developments in use at the tournament are:

• Referees wearing body cams that allow live pictures to be shown immediately before the game and on delay during it.
• An eight-second countdown for goalkeepers to release the ball.
• VAR pictures shown to fans in real time inside the ground.

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter in Atlanta

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says he has no doubt new striker Liam Delap will become a "future England number nine" as he prepares to make his Blues debut at the Club World Cup.

The 22-year-old forward joined in a £30m deal from Ipswich earlier in June to reunite with his former Manchester City academy manager.

Delap, who signed a six-year contract at Stamford Bridge, scored 12 goals in 37 Premier League appearances last term.

When asked about Delap, who pulled out of England duty for the European Under-21 Championship to join Chelsea in the United States, Maresca said: "I said Liam can be England's number nine when we faced Ipswich.

"Now he is a Chelsea player, I'm going to say again, I don't have any doubt that he can be in the future England number nine.

"We won with Manchester City's Under-23s - he scored 24, 25 goals that season - so he knows exactly what we can give him, I know what Liam can give us. It's a win-win. We like Liam, Liam likes us, so it was an easy conversation."

Image source, Getty Images

Liam Delap is among four new players in Chelsea's squad along with new teenage signings Dario Essugo, Mamadou Sarr and Mike Penders, while returning loanee Andrey Santos is back.

All of them are among the substitutes and will be keen to show what they can do.

John Obi Mikel
Former Chelsea midfielder speaking on Channel 5

It is very important to always have Reece James in the team and on the pitch playing. When you see him on the pitch Chelsea are a totally different team. I think if he stays fit this season Chelsea have a chance to do well.

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Los Angeles FC pride themselves on a European-style ultras group and around 100 of them have travelled to Atlanta for this one.

They are all sat together and will likely make a big impact on the atmosphere for the underdog MLS team.

Some Chelsea fans have travelled from the UK but the majority of the fans we have seen have been US-based Blues supporters.

Image source, Getty Images

From a financial perspective, each group-stage win will net that club £1.5m, with £5.8m for reaching the last 16, £10.2m for reaching the quarter-finals, £16.3m for progressing to the semi-finals, and £31m for winning the final.

The maximum prize available is about £97m for winning all three group-stage matches and then going on to win the tournament - the biggest amount ever awarded in club football over a seven-game format.

Former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel believes the demands of the Club World Cup on Manchester City and Chelsea will hand Liverpool and Arsenal a “huge advantage” in next season’s Premier League title race.

The England head coach is convinced the tournament will be pivotal for who wins the English league title next year, and will put the more rested Reds and Gunners in pole position.

“I think (the Club World Cup) will have a huge impact and it will give Liverpool and Arsenal a huge advantage in the next season to not be there,” Tuchel said.

“It will be a very nice experience for the players who are there to play this tournament for the first time, so I have mixed feelings about it.

“I decided not to worry too much, because why should I? It is a given, and no-one knows what will be the outcome of it or the effect. We will deal with the effect when the effect comes and let’s see.”

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

The attendance is not expected to be high for Chelsea's first match at the Club World Cup.

One major factor is that the kick-off time is just 3pm locally on a Monday so locals are unable to attend in droves.

This is also a 75,000-seater stadium but there is no doubt a huge appetite for football in this city with Atlanta United is the best supported team in MLS, with an average attendance of 44,037.

We will revisit this subject closer to kick-off with tickets still on sale for around $50.

Image source, BBC Sport

At the start of the competition, Chelsea were ranked sixth favourites, according to football data specialists Opta.

Enzo Maresca's side were rated as having an 8.4% chance of winning the whole thing and 56% chance of making the last eight.

European champions Paris St-Germain were pre-tournament favourites, something that would have just been strengthened after they thrashed Atletico Madrid 4-0 on Sunday.

Eleven of the top 12 places are taken by European clubs, with Red Bull Salzburg the only ones missing out.

Image source, Opta

Botafogo of Brazil gained a 2-1 win over American side Seattle Sounders in the early hours of this morning.

Chelsea begin their campaign at 20:00 BST when they take on Los Angeles FC.

Boca Juniors play Benfica at 23:00 BST tonight, while Brazil's Flamengo and Tunis of Tunisia, the other two sides in Group D, get under way at 02:00 BST.

There have been five matches in the tournament so far, with 17 goals scored, although 10 of them came for Bayern Munich in their 10-0 thrashing of New Zealand side Auckland City.

These were yesterday's results...

Image source, Getty Images

Striker Olivier Giroud signed for Chelsea in an £18m move from Arsenal in January 2018 and spent three-and-a-half years with the Blues, scoring 39 goals in all competitions from 119 appearances (59 as substitute).

During his time at Stamford Bridge he won the FA Cup in 2018, the Europa League in 2019 and the Champions League in 2021.

After leaving Chelsea, Giroud had three years at AC Milan before joining Los Angeles FC in 2024. He is now 38 years old and will be looking to get one over his old side, although he starts on the bench and will be itching to get on.

Image source, Reuters

Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC were a late addition to the tournament and were nearly not involved at all, with an 89th-minute equaliser from Brazilian midfielder Igor Jesus salvaging their preliminary play-off against Club America of Mexico last month before French winger Denis Bouanga won it towards the end of extra time.

The play-off came about after Club Leon, also from Mexico, were disqualified from the tournament over Fifa’s rules on dual ownership.

LAFC are relatively new to MLS having been founded in 2014. They finished top of the Western Conference last season and qualified for the play-offs where they ultimately finished third, with their only national title coming in 2022.

Former Tottenham goalkeeper and France’s World Cup-winning captain Hugo Lloris and ex-Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud are standout names, while Odin Holm, on loan from Celtic, will also be familiar. Coach Steve Cherundolo played more than 300 Bundesliga matches for Hannover.

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter in Atlanta

New signing Liam Delap could make his debut for Chelsea from the bench after joining in a £30m move from Ipswich Town before the Club World Cup.

Returning loanee Andrey Santos and a trio of teenage signings Dario Essugo, Mamadou Sarr and Mike Penders are also on the bench.

Meanwhile, LAFC have left former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud on the bench but familiar foe Hugo Lloris starts in goal.

Chelsea XI: Sanchez, James, Tosin, Colwill, Cucurella, Caicedo, Lavia, Neto, Palmer, Madueke; Jackson

Subs: Filip, Penders, Sarr, Anselmino, Gusto, Chalobah, Badiashile, Acheampong, Essugo, Andrey Santos, Dewsbury-Hall, Fernandez, Delap, George, Nkunku, Guiu.

Los Angeles XI: Lloris, Palencia, Long, Segura, Hollingshead, Delgado, Jesus, Tillman, Ordaz, Ebobisse, Bouanga.

Subs: Hasal, Ochoa, Marlon, Raposo, Chanot, Tafari, Hom, Saldana, Yeboah, Giroud, Martinez, Wibowo.

Hello and welcome along to BBC Sport's coverage of the Fifa Club World Cup Group D match as Chelsea take on Los Angeles FC.

Kick-off is at 20:00 BST.

Team news is in so let's start there...

Image source, Getty Images

It is only 19 days since Chelsea beat Real Betis to win the Conference League and, after a busy international break for most of their players, now they are in the United States ready to kick-start their Club World Cup campaign.

Former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud will be among those they are set to face as Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC will be their opponents today.

Image source, Getty Images