The first game in this group for Brazil simultaneously compelled two emotions far apart on the spectrum of emotions,
On the one hand Brazil showed us arguably the best football performance and quality we had seen all tournament, on the other Selecao were hit with two major injuries to Neymar and Danilo, with both players ruled out until at least the end of the group stages.
This could be a potential group winner decider, with Brazil and Switzerland being the highest rated nations in the group and the only teams with points on the board.
Brazil vs Switzerland Head-to-head
The last time both teams faced-off was also in a FIFA world cup group stage game, the last edition of the tournament in fact, where they held each other to a draw.
Brazil has never beaten Switzerland in an official match, and the two times they have met previously ended in shared spoils for both sides.
Brazil vs Switzerland Match form
Brazil won their first game of the Group 2-0 against Serbia, while Switzerland beat Central Africans Cameroon in a closely contested match.
Players to watch
In Neymar's absence, Vinicius Junior would assume primary responsibility for spark creation, the team would look to him for that extra bit of brilliance.
Switzerland are strongest in the middle of the park, and Granit Xhaka is the chief conductor of the orchestra, Brazil would need a strong performance from Casemiro as he had against Serbia to neutralise the Swiss central threat.
Tite on Neymar and Danilo’s injury
Tite hinted at assuming responsibility for the injuries sustained by Danilo and Neymar.
“I hadn’t figured out how much Neymar was hurt, but I subbed him off after finding out. I should have replaced him and Danilo earlier,” the coach believed he could have mitigated the injuries if he were more proactive with his substitutions.
Possible line-ups.
With Neymar and Danilo ruled out, Fred and Militao are expected to be introduced into the starting 11, with Paqueta assuming the Neymar role behind the striker and Fred manning the pivot alongside Casemiro.
Alisson; Militao, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Sandro; Casemiro, Paqueta; Raphinha, Neymar, Vinicius; Richarlison.
For Switzerland, an unchanged line up is expected.
Sommer, Widmer, Akanji, Elvedi, Rodriguez, Freuler, Xhaka, Shaqiri, Sow, Vargas, Embolo
Prediction
Brazil are the favourites going into this game and rightly so, they have an almost flawless record so far,, and that is expected to continue.