Just days after a crucial last-minute win eased some of the pressure on manager Dorival Junior, Brazil continue their CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying campaign at home to Peru in Brasilia.
A dramatic win against Chile maintained Brazil’s presence in the automatic qualifying spots, while Peru lifted themselves off the bottom of the table after finally securing their first win of the campaign last week.
Match Preview
The decision to back in-form Botafogo players finally paid dividends in that vital win over Chile as the Selecao move one step closer to their perfect record of never having missed the finals of a World Cup. Going into that game, Brazil were staring at a full-blown crisis, but Luiz Henrique’s late winner in Santiago turned the tables.
Brazil had trailed early, but Botafogo’s Igor Jesus pulled a goal back before his team-mate Henrique scored the winner in the 89th minute. The victory means Brazil has now won 17 of its last 20 matches against Chile. Yet elsewhere, other nations were also picking up points and Brazil is just two points clear of the automatic qualification places.
Brazil has had pretty poor form, with just three wins in their last 10 competitive matches-a statistic so strange to hear about the football powerhouse. Dorival’s job is still under scrutiny, and this is an important win at home against Peru, one of the weaker sides in South America. Brazil’s five-in-a-row wins over Peru should give them some confidence, even if recent form hasn’t been particularly outstanding.
October found Peru under Jorge Fossati as the only CONMEBOL nation without a single win in this qualifying campaign. However, they broke this with the surprise defeat of Uruguay last week, once again proving how difficult the South American qualifiers are.
That was Peru’s first competitive win in two years, to end a long winless streak in World Cup qualifiers, and puts them above Chile in the standings, although still five points adrift of the playoff spot. The fact that time is on their side means that after recent improvement, Peru will be eying a World Cup placement-the first since 1982.
However, Peru need to sharpen their offense and find a way to improve their away form, having scored just three goals in the qualifiers so far. Most of their points in the last two campaigns have come at home, a trend they are in dire need to change if they want to keep their World Cup hopes alive.
Current Form
Brazil (World Cup Qualifying):
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Brazil (All Competitions):
WDLWLW
Peru (World Cup Qualifying):
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Peru (All Competitions): DLLDLW
Team News
Having scored on his debut in Chile, Igor Jesus will probably start again, possibly alongside his Botafogo teammate Luiz Henrique, who scored the winner. Dorival will be without Lucas Paqueta, suspended after a yellow card. Bruno Guimaraes comes into the probable starting line-up in his place.
Brazil will also be without influential duo Vinicius Junior and Alisson with respective injuries, so Ederson will continue between the sticks.
Meanwhile, Peru boasts a length injury list of its own, but they battled their way to a win over Uruguay regardless. Miguel Araujo – who netted his maiden international goal-should retain his place in the starting XI, probably in a back five. Key midfielders Renato Tapia and Yoshimar Yotun are both out, as is striker Gianluca Lapadula. Miguel Trauco and Anderson Santamaria also miss out, but the three center-backs who started against Uruguay are expected to feature again.
Predicted Lineups
Brazil Possible Lineup:
Ederson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Abner; Bruno Guimaraes, Andre; Raphinha, Luiz Henrique, Igor Jesus; Rodrygo.
Peru Possible Lineup:
Gallesse; Polo, Araujo, Zambrano, Abram, Callens; Sonne, Castillo, Pena; Valera, Flores.
