Juventude and Sao Paulo will go head-to-head at the Estadio Alfredo Jaconi in the Brasileiro’s sole Thursday night fixture this week.

The out-of-form hosts enter the fixture in the relegation zone, while Sao Paulo moved clear of it thanks to an impressive win at the weekend.

Match preview

It has been a difficult start to the 2025 season for Juventude, who begin the matchday third-from-bottom, after a run of just one win in 10 games.

That solitary win also came against a Sport Recife side that have collected just three points from their opening 13 games, and are cut a long way adrift at the bottom.

Despite playing the fewest number of games of any team in the league, Claudio Tencati’s men have conceded by far the most goals - 28 in 13 games, which is seven more than any other club.

With just 10 goals scored so far, Juventude also have the second-worst attack, so even though they have some games in hand, the performances have simply not been there yet this season, for a club who only avoided the drop by three points in 2024.

Another chastening defeat came their way at the weekend, as Tencati’s men were thrashed 4-0 at Cruzeiro, so they must take advantage of some promising fixtures on the horizon to put points on the board.

The hosts now face Sao Paulo, who have not started well, before meetings with Santos, Vitoria and 10th-place Corinthians, who have all shown weaknesses this season too.

While it should not be too much of an issue here, Juventude are becoming overly reliant on their home form, because they are the only team in the Brasileiro yet to pick up a single point away from home, losing all six matches so far.

Even on home soil, they have not been overly convincing, scoring just nine goals in seven matches here, but that has at least translated into a respectable 11 points. 

For Sao Paulo, manager Hernan Crespo, who is back for a second spell in charge, will be looking to build momentum after a 2-0 win over Corinthians at the weekend.

Luciano’s double ended a five-game winless run for the club dating back to mid-May, which saw them pick up just one point in that time.

That moved Sao Paulo two points clear of the drop zone and just one point off the six Copa Sudamericana spots, but they have played a game more than some of the sides in the relegation battle, so one eye will remain looking over their shoulder.

Like their hosts, Sao Paulo have also not won away from home yet this season, but they have drawn four of their seven matches on the road so far, which is what is currently keeping them out of the bottom four.

Juventude Brasileiro form:

L D L L W L

Sao Paulo Brasileiro form:

L L L L D W

Sao Paulo form (all competitions):

W L L L D W

Team News

Recife loanee Ewerthon will be absent at the back for Juventude, as well as fellow defenders Cipriano and Rodrigo Sam, who have both been missing for the last few matches.

New signings Rafael Bilu and Lucas Fernandes are yet to make their debuts due to injury, but Marcelo Hermes and Hudson have played both league matches since arriving at the start of the month.

Gabriel Veron has also come in on loan from Porto, and made his debut as a second-half substitute in the defeat to Cruzeiro at the weekend.

Sao Paulo will be without experienced trio Luiz Gustavo, Lucas Moura and Jonathan Calleri for this one due to injury, with the latter two both nursing knee issues.

Oscar is also set to miss out after he was forced off inside 15 minutes at the weekend, joining teenager Ryan Francisco on the treatment table.

River Plate loanee Gonzalo Tapia could get more minutes here after making his debut as a late sub against Corinthians following that transfer earlier this month.

Juventude possible starting lineup:

Gustavo; Reginaldo, Angel, Marcos Paulo, Marcelo Hermes; Caique Goncalves, Hudson, Jadson, Mandaca; Taliari, Gabriel Veron

Sao Paulo possible starting lineup:

Rafael; Ferraresi, Arboleda, Franco; Cedric, Marcos Antonio, Bobadilla, Alisson, Wendell; Luciano, Andre Silva

We say: Juventude 1-1 Sao Paulo

After only taking one point in two matches against Juventude last season, Sao Paulo will feel this is an excellent opportunity to rectify that, but a repeat of the draw the two played out at this venue is likely.

The visitors are yet to win away from home this season, and 100% of Juventude’s current points tally has come here, so a draw looks the most likely outcome.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Andrew Delaney