Brazil’s upcoming slate of games are enough of a departure from the norm that I’m departing from my usual style of doing things.

First, to make up for the World Cup qualifiers that were canceled due to COVID in both March 2020 and 2021, FIFA has given special dispensation for CONMEBOL to play three qualifiers in this international break instead of the usual two.

Second, because a bunch of countries that are in better shape COVID-wise right now than the UK (including, somehow, Brazil) are high on British do-not-travel lists, Premier League clubs refused to release players for this round of fixtures. Unlike Argentina and Colombia, who were willing to let their PL-based players return to their clubs after the second of the three fixtures, the CBF wanted Brazil’s players to be available for all three games, meaning none of them have been released and we have to do without nine key players.

Because of all that, I won’t be posting individual match previews this week. While this might mean I miss covering an interesting storyline or bit of lineup news, I think the most compelling storylines to follow have been all set up by the unusual squad we’ll be playing with.

Here are all the players Tite has called up. Players with their name struck through were called up but not released, or in the case of Matheus Nunes, refused because they wanted to play for Portugal. Players in italics were called up to replace those who weren’t released. In parentheses are clubs for players who haven’t appeared for the national team before or otherwise need some contextualization.

GKs: Weverton, Éverson (Atlético-MG), Santos, Alisson, Ederson

Fullbacks: Danilo, Dani Alves, Alex Sandro, Guilherme Arana

Center-backs: Marquinhos, Éder Militão, Lucas Veríssimo (Benfica), Miranda (yes, the one from 2018, currently at São Paulo), Thiago Silva

Defensive/Central Midfielders: Casemiro, Bruno Guimarães, Gerson (Olympique de Marseille), Edenílson (Internacional), Fabinho, Fred

Attacking Midfielders: Lucas Paquetá, Everton Ribeiro, Claudinho, Matheus Nunes (Sporting CP)

Forwards: Neymar, Matheus Cunha, Gabigol, Hulk, Vinícius Júnior, Malcom, Richarlison, Raphinha (Leeds United), Roberto Firmino, Gabriel Jesus

And here are the matches we’ll be playing.

Brazil vs. Chile

Estadio Monumental David Arellano, Santiago, Chile, September 2, 2021

Kickoff: 9:00 PM EDT / 10:00 PM BRT / 1:00 AM GMT

US TV / Streaming: FuboTV

Possible Starting Lineup: Weverton, Danilo (Daniel Alves), Éder Militão, Marquinhos, Alex Sandro; Casemiro, Bruno Guimarães, Lucas Paquetá; Neymar, Gabigol, Matheus Cunha (Hulk).

Brazil vs. Argentina

Arena Corinthians, São Paulo, September 5, 2021

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

US TV / Streaming: FuboTV

Brazil vs. Peru

Arena Pernambuco, Recife, September 9, 2021

Kickoff: 8:30 PM EDT / 9:30 PM BRT / 12:30 AM GMT

US TV / Streaming: FuboTV

Notes and Storylines

Easily the biggest unknown going into these games comes from the huge number of player absences. Ederson, Fred, Thiago Silva, and Richarlison all started the senior team’s last game, the Copa América final; Firmino came off the bench to try and save the game, and Gabriel Jesus might have joined him if he weren’t suspended; and Alisson and Fabinho are generally held as being number-2 options on par with or better than Brazil’s regular starters in their positions. That’s a lot of the team’s core to lose overnight, but the bright side is that we here on the blog are sick of a good half of them. Fred seems vastly inferior to Bruno Guimarães; Thiago Silva, while still excellent, may now be a tactical liability because he’s lost his pace; Firmino and GJ have been deeply disappointing striker options for a while now (though GJ may be on the verge of a resurgence as a right winger); and Richarlison is a goalscoring enigma who, if nothing else, probably deserves a couple weeks’ rest.

So what opportunities might this open for players we’d like to see, and what challenges might arise? Well, in the latter category, the most obvious one is that we’re without our two top goalies, and I don’t think any of their replacements (or anyone else in the Brazil talent pool) is on nearly the same level. We usually afford our opponents very few shots, so perhaps that won’t be a problem, but Weverton does have the occasional blunder in him, and it could be very hard to come back from that against Chile or Argentina.

The opportunities are far more interesting. Some pundits blamed Thiago Silva’s lack of pace for Brazil’s struggles with pressing at the Copa América, most visibly on Argentina’s winning goal in the final; the younger, faster Militão will get a chance to make the case that we wouldn’t have lost the final if he’d been in the pitch. Bruno Guimarães demonstrated at the Olympics that he might be straight-up better than Fred at pretty much every facet of midfield play—he’s bigger, stronger, a better tackler, and a better passer—and now there’s no way Tite can inexplicably start Fred in front of him in every game until he finally takes the hint ahead of our World Cup quarterfinal. (Okay, that might still happen, but Bruno and Gerson have three full games without any serious competition that they might not have had otherwise.)

But the attack might be most interesting. Drained as it is of either our best talent or a bunch of dead weight, depending on your view, it’s hard to know what Tite will do with the players he has at his disposal. Matheus Cunha, fresh off his heroics in the Olympic final (and a move to Atlético Madrid that suddenly seems like it might not have been the best idea), may be pressed into service straight away, but it may be in a more supporting role on the right wing (where he can certainly play if needed). Frustrated as we are with Gabigol, he’s putting up spectacular numbers under new Flamengo coach Renato Gaúcho (12 goals and 3 assists in 12 games since returning from the Copa), and it seems like he’ll get yet another chance to prove himself. While his form certainly makes him hard to drop completely, I don’t see him doing any better this time around. Flamengo love to break quickly and provide their attackers with lots of space to run into and provide him with easy finishes, which Tite’s Brazil rarely does, and I don’t think the lineups being speculated for tomorrow night are likely to change that. Cunha is reasonably quick, but Paquetá and Bruno aren’t, and with Neymar looking out of shape after the summer break, I think we’re going to play more of Tite’s usual, often-frustrating game. If Vinícius or Malcom were starting, maybe I’d change my tune, but I’ll bet that, at least in tomorrow’s game, Gabigol will come off before either comes on.

This brings up the elephant in the room: can Tite get the attack working again? The Copa América final should have been a watershed moment. That he still called up almost all the same forwards for these qualifiers (before most of them had to be dropped) suggests that he doesn’t see it as such. Argentina hardly dominated us, it’s not like we should’ve lost 4-0 or anything, but once they found their opening goal, we really didn’t have any answers. Perhaps Cunha’s ability in tight spaces will make the difference. Perhaps Bruno’s passing from deep will provide the connection between defense and attack we’ve been desperately lacking. Perhaps Neymar’s apparent lack of fitness will end up not being an issue. Perhaps Malcom or VJ will come in and provide the game-changing burst of speed we often missed at the Copa. Perhaps having Militão in the backline will allow for a more aggressive press. Perhaps Hulk—long-derided, 35-year-old Hulk—will make a crucial contribution and vindicate the pundits in Brazil who’ve been squawking for his inclusion.

Now to cap things off with a prediction for each game!

Chile away: Chile, even in their diminished state, are no pushovers, and I don’t expect this to be a high-scoring affair. Even so, I think we were on our way to beating them fairly comfortably over the summer before Gabriel Jesus lost his mind, and I expect we’ll do better than our loss we had under Dunga the last time this fixture was played, six years ago. 2-1 win.

Argentina at home: We get a chance at instant revenge for our Copa América defeat, but while we’ll show improvement in the attack, I think Argentina will still have enough to bamboozle us going forward and keep things close. 1-1 draw.

Peru at home: Our games against Peru have been fun, and often a little weird, for a while now, and while the squad might be a little tired after their third game in eight days, I think we’ll still manage a comfortable 3-1 win.