Champions will go head to head when LAFC and Chelsea battle in their opening matches at the FIFA Club World Cup on Monday, with the matchup putting the 2024 U.S. Open Cup champions against the 2025 Europa Conference League winners.

The 38-year-old goalkeeper says the US-based club will struggle to compete with the Premier League clubs, or even others in the group.

Chelsea begin our Club World Cup adventure with a matchup against MLS contenders Los Angeles FC, who are the replacement team for Club León. On paper, we are the favorites for this game — and for all our group games — but LAFC are in decent form and in the middle of their season and we’re practically on holidays after a long-long season.

LAFC were the last team to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup, but got one of the hardest opponents of any participating clubs in their opening match, as they prepare to line up against England's Chelsea.

Maresca isn't ruling out a "very difficult" Club World Cup opener against LAFC: "I'm never confident, I don't know if it's something good or something bad, but I think because of the technology today, any game can be difficult. They can watch many games about us, we can watch many games about them, so every game becomes very complicated."

Check out the best moments from this MLS clash between St. Louis CITY SC and LA Galaxy.

Enzo Maresca has offered a strong hint over his selection plans for Chelsea at the Club World Cup. Chelsea open their Club World Cup on Monday in Atlanta at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, looking to kick their campaign off with a victory.