Assistant coach Zsolt Low says that Chelsea are expecting a tough fixture against Al-Hilal in the Club World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday evening.

While European champions Chelsea will be participating in their first match of the tournament, their Saudi Arabian opponents thrashed Al Jazira Club by a 6-1 scoreline at the weekend.

Despite Chelsea being the overwhelming favourites, Low has talked up the qualities of Al-Hilal, who have the likes of ex-West Bromwich Albion midfielder Matheus Pereira, former Porto forward Moussa Marega and recent Manchester United forward Odion Ighalo in their ranks.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Low said: "We know Al Hilal, we watched the game on Sunday with the coaching staff. We saw two very good teams with a lot of quality. They came better into the game and in the end it was a big win for them.

"We know they won the Asia Cup a lot of times. It's a very good team, we know a lot of players. They have players from different situations. Marega from Porto we know from the Champions League. We know Ighalo from Watford in England. They have good quality up front, can score a lot of goals. We expected a difficult game tomorrow."

Low was standing in for head coach Thomas Tuchel, who is currently not allowed to travel to the Middle East after testing positive for coronavirus on Saturday. body check tags ::