Pedro 🆚 Vitor Roque: comparing the number 9s of the Brasileirão leaders | OneFootball

The anticipated duel between Flamengo and Palmeiras next Sunday (19) will feature two players wearing the number 9 jersey with high potential to be decisive at Maracanã.

Pedro and Vitor Roque had good performances in their teams' matches this Wednesday (15) and arrive motivated for the clash between the runner-up and the leader of the Brasileirão.

The two also share the difficult moments they've had to overcome throughout the season.

Getting into the spirit of the direct confrontation for the leadership of the Brasileirão, OneFootball summarizes here the numbers of the forwards and their main events of the year.

The Numbers in 2025

Vitor Roque joined Palmeiras in the final stretch of the Campeonato Paulista.

To make the comparison more equal, we only considered the competitions in which both participated this year.

That is, we included the numbers from the Brasileirão, Copa do Brasil, Libertadores, and FIFA Club World Cup.

Statistics from the OGol website

Pedro

Brasileirão: 20 games, 11 goals, and 5 assists

Libertadores: 9 games, 2 goals, 0 assists

Copa do Brasil: 3 games, 1 goal, 1 assist

FIFA Club World Cup: 3 games, 0 goals, 0 assists

Total: 35 games, 14 goals, and 6 assists (in 1704 minutes)

Vitor Roque

Brasileirão: 25 games, 12 goals, and 3 assists

Libertadores: 8 games, 4 goals, 1 assist

Copa do Brasil: 4 games, 0 goals, 0 assists

FIFA Club World Cup: 5 games, 0 goals, 0 assists

Total: 42 games, 16 goals, 4 assists (2765 minutes)

The Highs and Lows

Pedro

Pedro is having another goal-scoring season at Flamengo, but once again an off-field issue shook his year.

The forward was the target of strong criticism from coach Filipe Luís in a press conference in July.

"Pedro's behavior and attitude during the week... It was regrettable, bordering on ridiculous," he commented after a victory in the Brasileirão against São Paulo (see the full statement below).

The number 9 returned to the field a week later, coming off the bench in the second half, and scored the winning goal in the derby against Fluminense.

At the end of August, he managed to score six goals in a sequence of three matches.

Despite this, Pedro has been alternating between starting and bench roles since Filipe Luís's public criticism.

The new decisive performance in the derby against Botafogo gave even more arguments for those who want the forward as a "fixed" piece in the starting lineups.

Vitor Roque

The most expensive signing in Brazilian football history, Vitor Roque took time to get going at Palmeiras.

He neither scored nor assisted in his first 12 games with the new club's jersey.

The first goal came against Vasco at the beginning of May. And the forward repeated the feat in the next two matches.

Despite the improvement in performance, he was still not living up to the investment.

The turning point came with the formation of the duo with Flaco López. Instead of competing for a spot in the starting lineup, they became partners.

The change made the football of both forwards (and Palmeiras as a whole) grow impressively.

Of the 16 goals scored by Vitor Roque at Palmeiras, 12 happened in his last 14 matches at the club.

Who do you think will make the difference in Sunday's duel?

Leave your opinion in the comments!

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