São Paulo line-up: Lucca starts as surprise pick to face Fluminense | OneFootball

The lineup for São Paulo is set for the clash this Thursday with Fluminense, at 8:30 PM (Brasília time), at Maracanã, for the penultimate round of the Brazilian Championship. The novelty is the forward Lucca, who starts the match as a starter, likely improvised on the left, after a good performance in that position in the second half against Juventude.

For this match, São Paulo's coach, Hernán Crespo, will not be able to count on goalkeeper Rafael and defender Sabino, who are suspended. On the other hand, Rafael Toloi is available again after suffering a hip injury in the derby against Corinthians and will start on the bench.

The complete lineup for São Paulo includes Young; Ferraresi, Luiz Gustavo, and Alan Franco; Maik, Pablo Maia, Bobadilla, Marcos Antônio, and Lucca; Rigoni and Tapia.

The game marks São Paulo's reunion with coach Luis Zubeldía, who led the team until June this year, ending a tenure of just under 14 months at the Morumbi club.

The São Paulo team still dreams of a spot in the Pre-Libertadores and, for that, they not only need to finish in eighth place, which they currently hold, but also hope that either Fluminense or Cruzeiro wins the Copa do Brasil. This way, the G7, the group that guarantees qualification for the continental tournament, would become G8, paving the way for São Paulo.

This Thursday's match, however, will not be easy for São Paulo. Fluminense needs a draw to confirm their qualification for the Libertadores and is coming off a streak of four games without a loss, precisely against the top four teams in the Brazilian Championship. The team led by Luis Zubeldía defeated Mirassol and the leader Flamengo, as well as drawing with Palmeiras, at Allianz Parque, and Cruzeiro.

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