Brazil unleashed their samba magic in the Round of 16 as they blew away South Korea 4-1 and next up, they will take on Croatia in the quarterfinals.
The way Brazil are playing right now they are one of the strongest contenders to lift the World Cup and barring a superb performance from Croatia, we don’t see anything other than a comfortable win for the South Americans on Friday.
Croatia are undefeated in their previous 10 matches but they will have to come up with a performance of a lifetime if they want to have any chance against this Brazilian side.
Tite has not put a foot wrong so far in this World Cup but the manager shouldn’t overthink and complicate things on Friday. The manager will ideally want to keep his starting XI unchanged unless there’s a late injury issue.
Brazil team news and injuries:
DEFENCE:
Alex Telles will play no more part in the World Cup due to a strain injury but Alex Sandro could recover from his hip issue and return to the matchday squad.
Sandro missed the game against Cameroon and South Korea due to this injury but he should be available for selection. However, Danilo and Militao have done really well as the two full-backs so we don’t think Tite will risk benching either one of them.
MIDFIELD:
Neymar has shaken off his injury and he played 80 minutes against South Korea. His return to the side means Tite has had to sacrifice Fred and bring Paqueta into central midfield.
Neymar will be playing in the No 10 role and he will be the trump card for Brazil. The PSG man scored one and assisted one in the Round of 16 and if he can replicate that performance then Croatia won’t have any answers.
A combination of Fred and Casemiro in central midfield will be too defensive which is why Paqueta should hold onto his place in the first XI.
ATTACK:
Gabriel Jesus picked up a knee injury and he will now be out of action for a month which means there’s no dethroning Richarlison from the striker’s position. The Arsenal man has undergone a successful knee injury and he will now start his rehab with his Premier League side.
Rodrygo, Martinelli and Antony will be pushing for a place in the starting line up but the Brazil manager will definitely not drop Vinicius Jr or Raphinha.
Raphinha was the only one of the forwards who did not directly contribute to a goal vs South Korea but currently, he’s playing much better than Antony.
Brazil predicted line up vs Croatia:
Predicted Starting XI(4-2-3-1): Alisson; Militao, Danilo, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos; Casemiro, Paqueta; Neymar, Vinicius Jr, Raphinha; Richarlison.
