Under Diniz, Corinthians' attack less effective without Yuri Alberto | OneFootball

Despite the defensive solidity, coach Fernando Diniz has been facing difficulties in setting up Corinthians’ attack due to the many absences in the sector since his arrival, which ends up affecting the number of goals scored. The difference becomes evident when a player who is fundamental to the system is not on the field: striker Yuri Alberto, the team’s top scorer this season with eight goals in 33 matches.

The center-forward has not played since July 30, when he suffered a muscle injury in the back of his right thigh in the goalless draw against Athletico-PR in Itaquera, in the 21st round of the Brasileirão. Under Fernando Diniz, when Yuri is on the field, Alvinegro has scored 24 goals in 18 matches, which represents an average of 1.33 goals per game.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca / Corinthians Agency

With his injury, striker Pedro Raul earned a run as a starter — he has now started six straight matches. The No. 18 has characteristics opposite to Yuri Alberto’s, being more of a penalty-box and aerial-ball player than someone who attacks depth and moves around. In seven matches with Pedro Raul and without Yuri Alberto, Alvinegro scored seven times in seven games — an average of one goal per game and a drop in offensive efficiency of 0.33.

The survey was published by the Fiel Imprensa profile on X, formerly Twitter. Another piece of data that draws attention and supports the argument is the number of goals scored by Timão from crosses when Yuri Alberto is and is not on the field.

When the No. 9 is present, only 10 of the 24 goals scored by Corinthians came from crosses. On the other hand, with Pedro Raul and without Yuri on the field, six of Timão’s seven goals came from crosses — 85.7%. The only one that did not happen this way was scored by Rodrigo Garro, who took advantage of a mistake by Tiago Volpi to open the scoring in the 2-0 win over RB Bragantino on August 9 at Cícero de Souza Marques, in the 22nd round of the Brasileirão.

Yuri Alberto, it is worth remembering, is close to returning to the pitch for Corinthians. Last Wednesday (26), he began the physical transition process and did partial work with the squad. This way, he could be a new option for Timão’s match this weekend. Next Sunday (30), at 4 p.m., Alvinegro will host Santos at Neo Química Arena for the 25th round of the Brazilian Championship. At the moment, Timão sits 10th in the tournament with 32 points — eight wins, eight draws and eight losses — 26 goals scored and 24 conceded.

Yuri Alberto’s path at Corinthians

Yuri Alberto arrived at Corinthians in mid-2022, initially on loan from Zenit, of Russia. At the start of 2023, he was signed permanently in a deal involving five players — Ivan, Robert Renan, Du Queiroz, Gustavo Mantuan and Pedrinho. Since then, he has recorded 82 goals and 23 assists in 240 matches (205 as a starter), with 106 wins, 64 draws and 70 losses — a 53.1% success rate.

He is the top scorer in the history of Neo Química Arena, opened in 2014, with 51 goals. In addition, Yuri Alberto is also the team’s leading scorer in the 21st century. In 2024, he had the most prolific season of his career, with 31 goals scored — 15 of them in the Brasileirão, in which he was the competition’s top scorer and fundamental to the team’s surge (from the relegation zone to the Libertadores qualifying stage).

Last year, he played a decisive role in the club’s Paulista Championship (2025) and Copa do Brasil (2025) titles, against Palmeiras and Flamengo, respectively, scoring goals in both finals. At the start of 2026, he also got on the scoresheet against Flamengo in the Supercopa do Brasil. This year, he is the team’s top scorer with eight goals — three in the Brasileirão — in 33 matches. His contract with Timão runs until July 2030.

Pedro Raul’s path at Corinthians

The striker was signed by Corinthians in January 2024, at the beginning of former president Augusto Melo’s administration, from Toluca of Mexico for five million dollars (R$ 25 million at the exchange rate at the time), split into four installments, two to be paid in 2024 and the rest in 2025. However, Timão renegotiated the start of the payments to only the beginning of last year. As a result, due to interest, the player will cost Alvinegro eight million dollars (about R$ 42.8 million at the current exchange rate), to be paid in nine installments between 2025 and 2028.

Even with the high investment, Pedro Raul was unable to establish himself at Corinthians under Mano Menezes, Antônio Oliveira, Ramón Díaz, Dorival Júnior and, so far, remains in the same situation under Fernando Diniz. After getting opportunities and delivering a low level in 2024, the striker was loaned to Ceará in March 2025. There, he was the team’s top scorer of the season, with 17 goals and two assists in 45 matches. Despite that, Vozão was relegated to Série B and, for financial reasons, did not exercise the option to buy the player.

As a result, the No. 18 returned to Corinthians at the start of 2026 and was reintegrated into the squad, which at the time was still coached by Dorival Júnior. This year, he has played 29 matches, with two goals and two assists. Since arriving at Timão, he has six goals and four assists in 71 matches (24 as a starter) — 29 wins, 19 draws and 23 losses — a 49.8% success rate.

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