Palmeiras eye best Paulistão start under Abel Ferreira with Mirassol win | OneFootball

In addition to fighting for the leadership of the Campeonato Paulista, Palmeiras takes the field this Saturday in search of the best start to the State Championship under the command of Abel Ferreira. If Verdão defeats Mirassol, it will achieve three victories in three matches for the first time since the arrival of the Portuguese coach at Alviverde. The teams face each other this Saturday at 8:30 PM (Brasília time) at Arena Barueri.

Abel Ferreira arrived at Palmeiras in October 2020 and is competing in his sixth Campeonato Paulista. Despite having reached five finals in all his complete State Championships, the Portuguese coach has never won the first three rounds of the competition.

In 2021, with the calendar impacted by the pandemic, Palmeiras debuted in the Paulistão drawing with Corinthians, amidst the final of the 2020 Copa do Brasil, won by Verdão against Grêmio. The following year, Alviverde started well, defeating Novorizontino and Ponte Preta in the first rounds, but drew with São Bernardo.

In the next two years, Palmeiras started the season without winning, drawing with São Bento in 2023 and with Novorizontino in 2024. In 2025, despite debuting with a victory over Portuguesa, they drew with Noroeste in the second round.

In search of the next phase

With only eight rounds in the new Paulistão format, Palmeiras seeks to finish the first phase among the leaders to have an advantage in the knockout stage. If they defeat Mirassol and Red Bull Bragantino stumbles, Verdão will take the lead and be the only team with a 100% success rate in the competition.

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