São Paulo aim to end goal drought against weak Brasileiro defence | OneFootball

Going through a difficult moment, São Paulo is seeking to recover this season and will face Fortaleza this Thursday. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time) at Arena Castelão, in Ceará, for the 25th round of the Campeonato Brasileiro.

The Tricolor from São Paulo is coming off a bitter streak of four consecutive defeats. To make matters worse, the São Paulo team hasn’t scored a single goal during this stretch. The team has only found the net once in the last six matches – when Dinenno scored in the win over Botafogo.

This Thursday, São Paulo will try to end its goal drought, which is already bothering both fans and players. The Tricolor may try to take advantage of Fortaleza’s fragile defensive system, which has the second worst defense in the Campeonato Brasileiro, tied with Vitória, Red Bull Bragantino, Vasco, and Internacional.

Fortaleza is second-to-last in the Série A, with 21 points. The Leão do Pici has conceded 38 goals in 24 rounds, averaging 1.58 goals conceded per game. Over the season as a whole, the team from Ceará has an average of 1 goal conceded per match, having been breached 61 times in 61 games.

On the other hand, São Paulo’s attack is ‘average’ for the competition. The Tricolor has scored 27 goals in 25 matches, averaging 1.08 goals per game. In 2025 as a whole, there have been 63 goals in 53 matches.

São Paulo hasn’t experienced such a long goal drought since 2019

São Paulo’s goal drought has lasted four matches and ended up being a key factor in the team’s elimination from the Libertadores quarterfinals. The Tricolor didn’t score in either game against LDU-EQU and in the matches against Santos and Ceará in Série A.

What stands out is that São Paulo usually has possession of the ball but struggles to create great chances. According to Sofascore data, the São Paulo team averaged 62.8% possession in these four games but created only six big chances.

São Paulo hasn’t experienced such a long goal drought since 2019. At that time, the Tricolor also went four games without scoring and saw its attack blank in three games against Bahia (two in the Copa do Brasil and one in the Brasileiro) and one against Corinthians in Série A.

Losing their top scorer explains the drop in performance

São Paulo had to find solutions for the offensive sector in the first months of this season. The Tricolor lost two of its forwards in succession: Calleri and Ryan Francisco. Both suffered serious injuries to their left knees and remain sidelined.

The alternative had been André Silva, who was enjoying his best spell in a São Paulo shirt and even established himself as the team’s top scorer in 2025. However, the striker suffered a posterior cruciate ligament injury along with a strain to the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in August this year.

The numbers, in fact, show how much the top scorer has been missed by São Paulo. According to Sofascore, in the last six games with André Silva, the Tricolor won three and scored nine goals, with a 66.7% success rate. The team created 13 big chances and converted five.

In the last six games without number 17, São Paulo has managed just one win and scored only one goal, totaling a 16.7% success rate. The team created 12 big chances but converted just one.

Without André Silva, Crespo has mainly relied on the duo of Luciano and Ferreirinha, but also has Juan Dinenno, Gonzalo Tapia, and Emiliano Rigoni on the bench. The two starters are also experiencing personal goal droughts – number 10 hasn’t scored in 13 games, while number 11 hasn’t found the net in 11 matches.

São Paulo’s situation in the Brasileiro

São Paulo has stalled in the Brasileirão standings and currently sits in eighth place, with 35 points. The Tricolor is going through a rough patch this season and, in addition to being eliminated from the Libertadores, is enduring a streak of four consecutive defeats.

São Paulo’s upcoming matches

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