One of the standout fixtures in the midweek Brasileirão schedule sees São Paulo host Flamengo at the historic Morumbi, in the heart of São Paulo. Flamengo know that a victory here would allow them to leapfrog Palmeiras in the race for the title, with just eight matches remaining. However, with Palmeiras set to play a day later, Flamengo will be eager to put the pressure on early and force their rivals to respond.

São Paulo

It’s been a frustrating spell for São Paulo since their shock exit from the Copa Libertadores at the hands of LDU Quito back in September. Since then, they’ve played seven matches, losing four and winning three. However, the more recent signs have been encouraging for Hernán Crespo and his side. They recorded a 2-0 win over Bahia in their last home outing, and followed that up last weekend with another 2-0 victory away to Vasco da Gama, thanks to goals from Lucas Moura and Luís Gustavo that secured all three points.

São Paulo currently sit eighth in the league table and are pushing hard for a place in next season’s Copa Libertadores, and with momentum beginning to swing back in their favour, they’ll be hoping to continue that upward trend here.

Flamengo

Flamengo come into this match in good spirits and, as mentioned above, a victory here would see them move to the top of the table, at least temporarily, with Palmeiras and Santos not playing until the following day. They arrive off the back of a crucial win at the weekend, where they defeated Sport Recife 3–0, scoring all three goals in the second half. Bruno Henrique led the way with a brace, while Giorgian De Arrascaeta continued his impressive scoring form to add the third.

The only negatives for Flamengo were disciplinary ones: Evertton Araújo was sent off, and Bruno Henrique picked up a yellow card that rules him out of this game. Despite that, Flamengo have been one of the standout sides this season. In their 30 league matches so far, they’ve scored an impressive 59 goals while remaining solid defensively, conceding just 16.

Their last outing away from home ended in a 1–0 defeat to Fortaleza, though that was with a slightly rotated XI as they had one eye on their Copa Libertadores commitments. They will be hoping for a much sharper showing here as they look to take a massive step in the title race.