Trader's Insight: FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Group D Preview & Tips

With there being a lot of unknowns regarding the 2025 Club World Cup, one of Ladbrokes' senior traders shares some valuable insights with our Group D preview.

Chris Wood, Senior Trader with Ladbrokes has provided bettors with an in-depth guide into Club World Cup Group D, allowing those who fancy a punt at this summer's tournament to make more informed picks.

Another slightly odd season for Chelsea where they promised much early on before fading away in midseason before finally capturing some silverware by winning the Europa Conference. Enzo Maresca still hasn’t convinced every Chelsea fan and should be looking to progress in this competition whilst finalising his best starting team.

Cole Palmer has once again been their main man but looked somewhat jaded at times and could probably do with a rest here. Liam Delap will be available and that will put pressure on Nicolas Jackson and mean they will split playing time between them.

Palmer will be the main source of goals and chances created but Noni Madueke should be fairly fresh and always considered if he starts the game as he has a similar exPG per game to Palmer, way in front of his fellow attacking midfielders. Marc Cucurella was also in decent goalscoring form this season with five league goals in 33 starts.

Flamengo come to the US off the back of a slightly disappointing season in Brazil where their highly fancied team finished third in the league and crashed out of the Copa Libertadores at the quarter final stage. A Copa Do Brasil win meant Filipe Luis kept his job and they have started the 2025 season well, winning seven out of 11 matches and topping the table by a point.

They have an experienced squad full of household names and will be taking this tournament very seriously. Their group looks fairly straightforward and I would expect them to qualify and possibly even top the table.

Giorgian de Arrascaeta has been in scintillating form so far this season with nine goals and four assists in nine starts in the league. Other main goal threats include club legends Pedro and Bruno Henrique. Pedro should take the penalties when he is on the pitch with de Arrascaeta as back up.

Another fairly successful season for LAFC that saw them top their conference along with winning the US Open Cup and finishing as runners-up in the Leagues Cup under long-serving manager Steve Cherundolo. They lost the influential Eduard Atuesta, Omar Campos, Mateusz Bogusz and Cristian Olivera in the close season however and results in 2025 have just improved after a slow start as the team begins gel and they could struggle here in a tough looking group.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the superb goalscoring form of Denis Bouanga who scored 20 goals in 32 games in the 2024 season and has seven in 14 so far in 2025 and he will lead the line. Olivier Giroud hasn’t quite caught fire yet with two in nine but even at the age of 38 he will still be a handful for any defence. The mercurial Cengiz Under will more than likely mostly be used off the bench and Mark Delgado will be relied upon to provide the chances.

The diminutive Eddie Segura will attempt to get on the end of Bounga’s corners and free kicks but they are not a huge threat from set pieces. Bouanga will take the penalties as long as he is on the pitch.

Esperance arrive in the Club World Cup after completing the double in Tunisia and reaching the quarter finals of the CAF Champions League. Outsiders of the group, they should still provide a reasonably tough test for each opponent and will be hoping to take points from at least Los Angeles FC and avoid the wooden spoon.

They have a wealth of experienced internationals throughout the side and only conceded 22 goals in 30 games during the domestic league season. Going forward, Brazilian imports Yan Sasse and Rodrigo Rodrigues should provide some threat going forward along with Algerian international Youcef Belaili who will be on penalties. Achref Jabri and Elias Mokwana will provide other options if needed.

They are very dangerous from set pieces and defenders Yassine Meriah, Mohamed Amine Tougai, Mohamed Wael Derbali and Hamza Jelassi are all potent aerial threats when they are on the pitch.

Chelsea are rightly favourites but look a bit short in their opening game and to win the group after a tough season. Flamengo will be tough opposition for them and the two outsiders are no pushovers either and I’d side with Flamengo and Esperance in the group markets.

• Monday, June 16 - Chelsea vs LAFC (20:00 BST)
• Tuesday, June 17 - Flamengo vs ES Tunis (02:00 BST)
• Friday, June 20 - Flamengo vs Chelsea (19:00 BST)
• Friday, June 20 - LAFC vs ES Tunis (23:00 BST)
• Wednesday, June 25 - ES Tunis vs Chelsea (02:00 BST)
• Wednesday, June 25 - LAFC vs Flamengo (02:00 BST)
  

Ladbrokes has an article looking at the group stage games to watch at the Club World Cup. As well as that, we've also posted an extensive Club World Cup schedule guide, for fans who don't miss out on a single minute of action in America.

As noted, there are a lot of questions surrounding this summer's tournaments, some fans still wondering why Liverpool aren't in the tournament but Chelsea are, for example.

So, Ladbrokes has an 'Answering all your questions on the Club World Cup 2025' piece for fans who still don't feel they know all they need to about the revamped FIFA competition.

View the latest Club World Cup odds.

All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.