Andreas eyes Choque-Rei, rejects Palmeiras as favourites: "Respect them" | OneFootball

Andreas Pereira is eager to play in another derby wearing the Palmeiras jersey and looked ahead to this weekend's Choque-Rei. Verdão will visit São Paulo starting at 9 p.m. (Brasília time) this Saturday at Morumbis, for the eighth round of the Brazilian Championship.

“We know it’s a special game, very important for our fans and for us internally as well. We always prepare a little differently, there’s this special feeling. We’ll do everything to win, to come away with the three points, and to do our best on the field,” the player told TV Palmeiras.

The derby between São Paulo and Palmeiras is worth the lead in the Brazilian Championship. Both teams have 16 points, but Alviverde holds the top spot due to tiebreaker criteria.

The recent history of the Choque-Rei favors Palmeiras, who are defending an 11-game unbeaten streak against their São Paulo rivals. Verdão also knocked São Paulo out in the semifinals of the Paulista Championship. Andreas, however, dismissed any favoritism for the Palmeiras side in this Saturday’s clash.

“It’s good for us, but that’s in the past. Now we have to focus on tomorrow’s game, which will be tough. We know their quality, they’re up there with us at the top of the table. They have a lot of quality too, we have to respect our opponent, but we also know that on the field we have a lot of quality as well,” he analyzed.

Midfielder values good moment

Andreas Pereira also highlighted Palmeiras’ good moment this season. Verdão recently won the Paulista title by beating Novorizontino in the final, leads the Brasileirão, and is also competing in two other tournaments: the Libertadores and the Copa do Brasil.

“Winning with this jersey is very important, it was my first title here. I’m very happy with the recent victories as well, it’s also great for everyone’s confidence this season. We started well, we’re feeling really good. We know the Brasileirão is very tough, we have to be very resilient and take it game by game. That’s what we’re doing now, improving. We have a tough match ahead, but we’re focused,” the midfielder concluded.

Coming off two consecutive wins, Palmeiras will try to extend their positive streak to go into the FIFA break as the sole leaders of the Brazilian Championship.

Upcoming Palmeiras matches

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.