Santos and Red Bull Bragantino meet on Sunday at 18:30 at Vila Belmiro in a match for the 15th round of the Campeonato Brasileiro, with both sides arriving from different kinds of pressure and momentum. The game will be shown on Premiere, and ge will follow the action in real time.
Santos reaches the match without a win in seven games this season and with 15 points in the Brasileirão, the same total as Corinthians, which is the first team inside the relegation zone. Bragantino, meanwhile, comes in with 20 points after beating Blooming-BOL 6-0 in the Sul-Americana last Thursday and defeating Chapecoense 2-1 in the last league round.
The weight of the match is sharpened by what Santos cannot use. Gabriel Brazão is suspended after his third yellow card, while Thaciano has a muscle injury in his right thigh. Gabriel Menino and Lautaro Díaz are in physical transition, Gustavo Henrique is being treated for a lesion in the adductor muscle of his left thigh, and Mayke is recovering from a viral infection.
The likely Santos lineup has Diógenes, Igor Vinícius, Lucas Veríssimo, João Ananias, Escobar, João Schmidt, Christian Oliva, Gabriel Bontempo, Rollheiser, Neymar and Gabigol. On the other side, Bragantino is expected to line up with Volpi, Andres Hurtado, Alix Vinicius, Gustavo Marques or Pedro Henrique, Juninho Capixaba, Gabriel, Ramires, Herrera, Lucas Barbosa, Sasha and Isidro Pitta. Juninho Capixaba should return to the starting team after serving a suspension in the last round.
Bragantino also has its own list of absences. Davi Gomes is out with a right knee anterior cruciate ligament injury, Fabricio has a right ankle injury, Ryan has a left knee meniscus injury, Matheus Fernandes has a left thigh injury, Eduardo is dealing with a left thigh muscle injury and Fabinho has pubalgia. Agustin Sant'Anna and Guzmán Rodríguez are in physical transition, while Andres Hurtado, Matheus Fernandes, Pedro Henrique and Rodriguinho are suspended.
Alex Gomes Stefano, from Rio de Janeiro, will referee the match. For Santos, the need is immediate: break the winless streak and put distance between itself and the bottom end of the table. For Bragantino, another result would keep the team moving toward the G-5 and extend a week already marked by a six-goal performance and a league comeback.
