Cruzeiro and Bragantino meet Sunday at 18:30 Brasília time at Mineirão in the 11th round of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, with the Belo Horizonte club under pressure to respond after a 4-1 loss to São Paulo and Bragantino trying to keep its recent league momentum alive. The match will be shown live across Brazil on Premiere and is also listed on sportv, with coverage available on ge.globo and Globoplay.
Cruzeiro comes in last in the Brasileirão with seven points, and its week offered both relief and contradiction. The team beat Barcelona de Guayaquil 1-0 in Ecuador in its Libertadores debut, a result that strengthened the case for some changes, but it still carries the weight of the worst defense in the league. Lucas Romero may return to the call-ups after missing the games against São Paulo and Barcelona de Guayaquil because of pain in his left thigh, while Fagner and Lucas Silva gained space in the starting team in the Libertadores match. Jonathan Jesus is also expected to get another chance after helping Cruzeiro go one match without conceding a goal.
The probable Cruzeiro lineup is Matheus Cunha; Fagner, Fabrício, Jonathan Jesus and Kaiki; Lucas Silva, Gerson, Matheus Preira; Arroyo, Christian and Kaio Jorge. Walace is out for indiscipline, Cássio has a multiligament injury in his left knee, Luís Sinisterra has a muscle injury in his right thigh and Marquinhos is sidelined with a left knee injury.
Bragantino arrives in ninth place with 14 points after beating Flamengo and Mirassol in its last two Brasileirão matches, though its week also included a 1-0 loss to Carabobo-VEN in the first round of the Sul-Americana with a reserve team. The club is expected to be closer to full strength on Sunday, but it must do without attacker Herrera, who is suspended for accumulation of a third yellow card and is also being treated for a left thigh injury. Rodriguinho and Gustavo Neves are options to replace him, while Henry Mosquera is a doubt after feeling an injury against Carabobo.
Bragantino’s probable lineup is Tiago Volpi; Agustin Sant'Anna, Alix Vinícius, Gustavo Marques and Juninho Capixaba; Gabriel, Matheus Fernandes and Rodriguinho; Lucas Barbosa, Vinicinho and Isidro Pitta. The unavailable list also includes Davi Gomes, Guzmán Rodríguez, Vanderlan, Fabricio, Fernando and Sasha, leaving coach and squad planners with several absences even as the team tries to build on its league form.
Ramon Abatti Abel will referee the match, with Bruno Raphael Pires and Alex dos Santos as assistants, Paulo Belence Alves dos Prazeres Filho on VAR and Carlos Eduardo Nunes Braga as fourth referee. For Cruzeiro, the task is simple enough to describe and hard to execute: stop the slide in the league without losing the lift it found in Ecuador. Bragantino, meanwhile, has a cleaner table position and a sharper recent run, which makes Sunday less a formality than a test of whether Cruzeiro can turn one good result into a shift in its season.
