After a promising set of results in October, Brazil return to action in World Cup qualifying when they travel to Maturin to face Venezuela on Thursday.
This fixture will pit the only CONMEBOL nation never to qualify for the finals against the only side in international football to have played at every World Cup.
Match preview
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A hugely unconvincing start to qualifying meant the prospect of Brazil not reaching the World Cup seemed an actual possibility before October's fixtures.
It would be astonishing if the first finals the Selecao miss out on is the one that has just been expanded to its largest tournament ever, as 48 teams will travel to North America in 2026.
Under-fire manager Dorival Junior was fortunate that the schedule handed them two very winnable games against the current bottom two, who are cut adrift and almost out of contention to qualify.
Again, Brazil were not overly impressive, needing a late goal from Luiz Henrique to beat Chile and end their three-game losing run away from home.
Returning home to face Peru a few days later went much better for the five-time world champions, as Brazil ran out 4-0 winners to move level on points with Uruguay, and four clear of Bolivia in the playoff place down in seventh.
Brazil will face all the other teams in the top five in their next four games after this trip to Venezuela, though, so it is imperative that they capitalise and take an important three points from this one.
History suggests they should have no problem in doing so, considering they have won all previous nine away games versus Venezuela, scoring 39 goals in the process, but Brazil are no longer as strong as they once were, and the hosts are rapidly improving.
A draw between the sides on matchday three last year was just the second time in history that Venezuela have avoided defeat to Brazil, and boosted their hopes of reaching the finals for the first time.
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Form continued for the rest of 2023, but since returning to qualifying action after the Copa America, those hopes have suffered slightly during the autumn schedule.
La Vinotinto remain unbeaten at home in this section, holding Argentina and Uruguay to draws over the last two months, but away form is once again letting them down.
In qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, Venezuela lost all nine games on the road on the way to finishing bottom, and while they have fared slightly better this time around, they have taken only two points from a possible 15 so far.
Losing away to Bolivia and Paraguay in their last two has seen Fernando Batista's side drop out of the top seven entirely, after starting last month in an automatic qualifying spot.
It is still devilishly tight, though, as Venezuela are just one point behind Bolivia in the playoff place, and two behind Ecuador and Paraguay in the final two automatic qualifying positions, so it will likely be all change once again when matchdays 11 and 12 are completed.
Team News
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Defence remains the big problem in terms of availability for Venezuela, and another name was added to the injury list last week, with Yordan Osorio pulling out of the squad late with injury.
Osorio joins Jhon Chancellor and the uncapped, but promising, Teo Quintero on the sidelines, with those two being forced to pull out of the September and October international breaks with injuries of their own.
Salomon Rondon remains the talisman of the team at 35, and having scored just under half of their goals in this section, the former Newcastle United and Everton striker has continued his fine form in Mexico, scoring a hat trick for Pachuca at the start of the month.
Brazil number one Alisson remains out with the hamstring injury he suffered playing for Liverpool last month, so Ederson is set to deputise again and seek a rare win, considering his Manchester City side have now lost four on the spin.
The first 45 minutes of Real Madrid's clash with Osasuna last weekend was not pleasant for anyone concerned with Brazil, as Rodrygo was forced off early on before Eder Militao tore his ACL just minutes later, ending his season.
Bremer is also out with the same injury in the same position, and Dorival Junior has decided to leave out defensive trio Lucas Beraldo, Fabricio Bruno and Alex Telles from last month's squad.
Endrick is also not part of the setup this time around, but fellow teenager Estevao Willian is, having missed the October fixtures due to a lack of match fitness.
Venezuela possible starting lineup:
Romo; Gonzalez, R Ramirez, Ferraresi, Aramburu; Martinez, Rincon, Herrera; Soteldo, Rondon, Savarino
Brazil possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Vanderson, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Abner; Paqueta, Guimaraes; Henrique, Raphinha, Vinicius Jr; Igor Jesus
We say: Venezuela 1-2 Brazil
Wins were expected last month, and if they did not arrive, Dorival Junior would have been in big trouble, but actually getting those six points on the board was hugely important and should calm the nerves and allow Brazil to sail through the rest of this qualifying campaign.
Venezuela are yet to lose at home in this section, but form has tailed off in general and they will do very well to overcome a strong, but albeit inconsistent, Brazil side here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
Argentina
Uruguay
Ecuador
Colombia
Brazil
Paraguay
Bolivia
Venezuela
Chile
Peru
