AT LAST

Brazil vs. Nigeria

Singapore National Stadium, Singapore, October 13, 2019

Kickoff: 8:00 AM EDT / 9:00 AM BRT / 12:00 PM GMT

US TV / Streaming: BeIN Sports

Likely Starting Lineup: Ederson; Dani Alves, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Renan Lodi; Casemiro, Arthur, Neymar; Everton Cebolinha, Roberto Firmino, Gabriel Jesus.

Notes and Storylines:

IT’S HAPPENING: After seeming like he’d never get around to actually doing it, Tite has dropped Coutinho from the starting lineup and moved Neymar to the middle of the park. Everton Cebolinha takes over the left-wing role, meaning we’ll have a very quick and athletic front four, with lots of runners to take advantage of Neymar’s penetrative passes.

The Neymar Centralization Society rejoices, but there are some valid doubts over whether this will actually work. Even with Coutinho on the pitch against Senegal, we were essentially fielding a 4-2-4 against a team that packed the midfield, and we neither controlled the game nor created many genuine chances. It’s quite possible that this setup cedes the midfield too much to be useful against top opponents—it won us the Copa America, but against Argentina, the toughest team we faced, we were handily outplayed in midfield and won the game on dogged defending and two moments of individual brilliance.

Now, a counterpoint to all that—with Everton in Coutinho’s place, this team will be much more capable of pressing effectively, and of creating chances on the counter, not that Tite has ever focused too much on either approach.

The only other change in the starting lineup is that Renan Lodi gets his big break, replacing Alex Sandro in the starting lineup. Sandro has been really uninspiring for Brazil, particularly in attack, where he contributes basically nothing, so this represents a real opportunity for Lodi to take over the starting role. I’ve seen plenty of hype for him, but I still have not seen enough of him on the pitch to be convinced.

The two changes we get are welcome, and having tried “the Copa America setup but with Neymar in Everton’s place” in the last game, it’s perfectly valid to try “…but with Neymar in Coutinho’s place” this time out before attempting a more drastic shakeup in the attack. But there are a few players I’m very curious to see, particularly Marcinho and Gabigol. It’s past time we start seriously testing young alternatives to Dani Alves, and while I don’t think Marcinho is a long-term option, I hope he gets at least 30 minutes in this game. Giving Gabigol some time in Firmino’s place, meanwhile, would help determine whether the player or the system is the main factor behind Firmino’s fairly uninspiring performances for Brazil.

As for a prediction, we don’t have a lot of history playing Nigeria—one 3-0 friendly win in 2003 and of course that infamous 4-3 defeat in the semifinals of the 1996 Olympics. They are, however, a somewhat weaker team than Senegal, and I think Brazil will be better with this lineup than they were in the last game. Still, knowing this team, I think a fairly modest prediction of a 2-1 Brazil win is fair.

Now for the undercard!

Brazil U-23 vs. Japan

Arena Pernambuco, Recife, October 14, 2019

Kickoff: 3:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM BRT / 7:00 PM GMT

Stream: Someone will likely stream the game on YouTube

Lineup From The Last Game: Ivan; Emerson, Luiz Felipe, Ibanez, Caio Henrique; Douglas Luiz, Wendell, Pedrinho; Antony, Paulinho, Matheus Cunha

I’ve found no news on the lineup for this game yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a couple of changes. André Jardine seems intent on building the strongest side possible for the Pre-Olympic Tournament, and I’d be more surprised if he didn’t give a shot to Rodrygo, Bruno Guimarães, and some of the other talented players who started the last game on the bench.