São Paulo: Crespo may use three at the back, rest Lucas v Palmeiras | OneFootball

The São Paulo squad returned to training this Thursday (22nd) at the Barra Funda Training Center, focusing on their next commitment in the Paulista Championship: the derby against Palmeiras, valid for the fifth round, at 6:30 pm (Brasília time) on Saturday (24th), in Barueri (SP).

This morning's session divided the players into two groups: those who played longer in the match against Portuguesa did recovery exercises indoors, while the rest trained on the pitch alongside young players from Cotia.

The on-field activities included the presence of midfielder Luan: the midfielder, who had been going through the transition process in recent days after an injury to his right adductor, participated in most of the training with his teammates, in addition to some extra physical work with the fitness staff.

The training on the pitch began with a warm-up, which consisted of a physical circuit and a ball exercise in a reduced space.

Next, the coaching staff formed four teams, playing seven against seven, who faced each other alternately.

This Friday (23rd), the Tricolor’s first team will finalize preparations for the derby.

After resting some key players from the starting lineup in the defeat to Portuguesa, the tendency is for coach Hernán Crespo to field what is called the ‘full strength’ squad against their rival.

The question mark is Lucas, who has been on an uninterrupted run of matches and, since the game will be played on synthetic turf, may be rested from the starting eleven.

Enzo Díaz could be a new addition. The left-back has recovered from surgery performed last year, was included in the squad for the first time this season in the match against Lusa, and appears to have regained his best physical form.

There is also the possibility that Crespo will return to the three-center-back formation, which was used so much last year but was abandoned this season after the defeat in the Paulistão opener against Mirassol.

A probable São Paulo lineup should be formed by Rafael; Alan Franco (Ferraresi), Arboleda and Sabino (Dória); Maik, Danielzinho, Bobadilla (Pablo Maia), Marcos Antônio and Wendell (Enzo Díaz); Luciano (Lucca) and Calleri (Tapia).

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