Kaio Jorge eyes end to goal drought vs Vitória in Brasileiro | OneFootball

Cruzeiro faces Vitória this Saturday at Mineirão, at 4 PM, seeking to return to winning ways in the Brazilian league after drawing away with the leader Palmeiras. Leonardo Jardim's team hasn't lost in six games in the tournament, since the defeat to Vasco by 2-0 at São Januário at the end of September. However, they have only beaten Fortaleza during this period (1-0) and drew the remaining four games (Sport, Flamengo, Palmeiras, and Atlético-MG).

As a result, the gap to Mirassol, in fourth place, has narrowed to two points. Cruzeiro remains in third, with 57 points, while Mirassol has two less (55). Against Leão, the focus is on forward Kaio Jorge, the top scorer of the Brazilian Championship alongside Uruguayan De Arrascaeta from Flamengo, with 15 goals.

Kaio Jorge is the standout player for the team in the Brasileirão, but he is going through a goal drought. Since the quarter-final matches of the Copa do Brasil against Atlético-MG — where he was a protagonist, scoring one of the goals in the first-leg victory (2-0 at Arena MRV) and both in the return match at Mineirão (2-0) — he hasn't found the net again.

Cruzeiro has played eight games in the Brazilian league since then, with the top scorer missing only the matches against Sport and Fortaleza due to suspension. Excluding the games against their rival in the Copa do Brasil, the last goal by the forward in the competition was in the victory over Internacional by 2-1 at Mineirão, in the 21st round.

This is the longest goalless streak for the player in the competition. Previously, the maximum number of consecutive goalless matches for Kaio Jorge had been two, which happened on three occasions. However, during this current drought period, the player contributed with two assists: the pass for Lucas Silva's goal against Red Bull Bragantino (2-1 for Cruzeiro) and the pass to Matheus Pereira in the 1-1 draw against Atlético-MG.

In total, Kaio Jorge has 15 goals and 7 assists in the Brazilian Championship, being directly responsible for 22 of the 42 goals scored by Cruzeiro in the competition — a contribution of 52.3% to the team's goals.

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