Spotlight on the Brasileirão: see how Flamengo and Palmeiras play | OneFootball

Flamengo and Palmeiras take the field this Sunday at 4 p.m. (Brasília time) for Matchday 29 of the Brazilian Championship. As in recent years, the clash at the Maracanã is treated as a “final” of the competition, since it pits the leader against the second place.

With that in mind, Gazeta Esportiva prepared an analysis of the particularities of Flamengo and Palmeiras in the Brazilian Championship, with statistics for the teams and the main players on each side.

Flamengo’s numbers

Best attack, best defense, and unbeaten at home. Filipe Luís’s Flamengo is one of the best teams in the Brazilian Championship and currently sits in second place with 58 points — three behind leaders Palmeiras.

The Rubro-Negro has one of the highest average possessions in the league, at 61.7%. In addition, the Rio side’s pass completion rate is also extremely high: 88.8%.

Flamengo’s numbers in the Brazilian Championship. (Photo: Reproduction / Sofascore)

Filipe Luís’s team has excellent offensive output, averaging two goals per game — 53 goals in 27 rounds. Defensively, Flamengo went 15 matches without conceding and allows, on average, one goal every two games (13 conceded in total).

At home, they’ve played 14 matches, with nine wins and five draws. The team scored 33 goals at the Maracanã and conceded just four. However, they have drawn their last three matches played at the Mário Filho stadium.

Palmeiras’ numbers

Despite not leading any offensive statistic, Palmeiras is the team with the most wins in the Brazilian Championship — 19 victories in 27 matches, with a success rate of 75.3%. Top of the table with 61 points, three more than Flamengo, Abel Ferreira’s team is in great form.

With possession (52.6%) and pass accuracy (83.5%) lower than their Rio opponents, Palmeiras stands out for one of its main weapons in the “Abel Ferreira Era”: the counterattack.

Palmeiras’ numbers in the Brazilian Championship. (Photo: Reproduction / Sofascore)

Counterattacks are a major strength for the Verdão — 40 counterattacks in the league, compared to just 13 for Flamengo. The team creates, on average, 2.7 big chances per game and has scored 51 goals, two fewer than the Rubro-Negro.

Another relevant stat is the recent stretch: in the last ten games, Palmeiras scored 29 goals, 14 of them from the strike duo Flaco-Roque. In addition, the Verdão is the second-best away side in the tournament, with eight wins, two draws, and just two losses in 12 away matches.

Recent head-to-head

Even with good numbers away from home, Palmeiras has struggled to beat Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro in recent years. At the Maracanã, the Verdão hasn’t beaten the Rubro-Negro since December 2015, when they won 2–1 on Matchday 38 of that year’s Brasileirão. The São Paulo side also won away in June 2016, but that match was at Mané Garrincha, in Brasília.

Since then, there have been nine meetings, with five Flamengo wins and four draws. Considering the clashes at Allianz Parque as well, the record doesn’t improve much for the São Paulo team: since 2018, Palmeiras has won just three of the last 20 matches — in the second leg of the 2024 Copa do Brasil round of 16 and in the finals of the 2021 Libertadores and the 2023 Supercopa.

In recent Brazilian Championships in which the teams fought for the title side by side, Flamengo had the upper hand in the head-to-heads in 2023, 2021, 2020, and 2019. In the first half of this season, the Rubro-Negro beat Palmeiras 2–0 at Allianz Parque.

Gustavo Gómez and De Arrascaeta battling for the ball during the 2021 Libertadores final. (Photo: Juan Mabromata / AFP)

Keep an eye out!

Finally, Gazeta Esportiva highlights potential protagonists of the clash. On Flamengo’s side, Arrascaeta and Léo Ortiz have been standing out this season.

The Uruguayan midfielder has been a true nemesis for Palmeiras in recent years. Since 2015, playing for Cruzeiro and Flamengo, Arrascaeta has faced the Verdão 28 times, with 12 wins, ten draws, and six losses. He also scored eight goals and provided six assists against the Greens.

On Palmeiras’ side, the duo Flaco López and Vitor Roque is the big highlight. In the last ten league matches, the two have scored 14 goals — eight from “Tigrinho” and six from the Argentine.

Vitor Roque also contributes to playmaking. This season, the forward has four assists, making him one of the Verdão’s main providers.

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