Preview:Brazil vs Senegal - prediction, team news, lineups

The home of Arsenal - the Emirates Stadium - will stage an international friendly between five-time world champions Brazil and African giants Senegal on Saturday afternoon.

June 2023 was the last time that these two nations butted heads and it was Senegal who prevailed by a 4-2 scoreline in a friendly held in Lisbon.

Match preview

Carlo Ancelotti has taken charge of six games as Brazil head coach since his appointment at the end of May and the Italian has recorded three wins, one draw and two defeats, with his team scoring 11 goals and keeping four clean sheets in the process.

A Selecao secured a 1-0 home win over Paraguay in June to maintain the nation's remarkable record of qualifying for every edition of the FIFA World Cup (23), and Ancelotti is tasked with steering his team to a record-extending sixth world title at next summer’s tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Brazil’s World Cup qualification campaign was far from convincing, though. They managed eight wins, four draws and six defeats against their fellow South American nations - most of which came under former coach Dorival Junior. Their campaign ended on a disappointing note with a surprise 1-0 loss away to Bolivia in September, leaving the Selecao fifth in the 10-team standings and 10 points behind table-toppers Argentina.

Ranked seventh in the world by FIFA, Brazil had mixed success when they travelled to Asia to take part in two friendly fixtures during last month’s international break. A thumping 5-0 victory over South Korea was followed by a 3-2 defeat against Japan in which they were leading by two goals at half time.

Ancelotti will be keen to avoid a repeat of that surprise collapse and will also be looking to steer Brazil to their first-ever win over Senegal this weekend, as the Selecao have failed to win their previous two friendly encounters with the African outfit (D1 L1).

Senegal became one of the final African nations to secure automatic qualification to the 2026 World Cup, with a comfortable 4-0 home victory over Mauritania in their final fixture last month enough to see them pip DR Congo to top spot in Group B.

The Lions of Teranga won seven and drew three of their 10 qualifiers in Group B, scoring 22 goals and conceding only three in the process. Head coach Pape Thiaw boasts an impressive 83.3% success rate as Senegal boss (W10 D2) since his appointment in December 2024 and his team can look forward to competing at just their fourth World Cup, and third in a row, next summer.

Before then, Senegal will compete in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, with group-stage games against DR Congo, Benin and Botswana scheduled in the final week of December. In preparation for the tournament, the Lions of Teranga will follow up Saturday’s clash against Brazil with another friendly against Kenya next Tuesday.

Ranked 18th in the world by FIFA, Senegal will hope to enter AFCON in buoyant mood and are keen to build on their positive run of form, having won each of their last four international matches by an aggregate score of 14-2.

Senegal will believe that they can spring a surprise against Brazil, having done so before against the South American heavyweights, and they enter this weekend’s contest having already won on English soil against a top-10 ranked nation this year, beating England 3-1 in a friendly at the City Ground in June.

Brazil form (all competitions):

Senegal form (all competitions):

Team News

Neymar has not represented Brazil for more than two years and although the injury-prone attacker has recovered from his latest setback at Santos, the 33-year-old has been omitted from Ancelotti’s 26-man squad.

Goalkeeper Hugo Souza as withdrawn from the squad due to injury, while Raphinha, Gabriel Martinelli, Savinho, Joelinton, Joao Gomes and Lucas Beraldo are some of the high-profile names who have all been left out by Ancelotti.

Ancelotti has spoken about how he has persuaded Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior to operate in a central attacking role for the national team as opposed to playing on the left wing. The 25-year-old started up front in the friendly loss to Japan last month and he could continue in the same role on Saturday.

Premier League trio Joao Pedro, Richarlison and Matheus Cunha are also contenders to begin as a central striker, while Chelsea starlet Estevao will hope to feature in some capacity having already scored three goals in nine appearances for Brazil at the age of just 18.

As for Senegal, Krepin Diatta is ruled out through injury, while Nampalys Mendy, Mamadou Mbow and Cheikh Nisse has all been omitted after featuring in last month’s squad.

Como attacker Assane Diao has been recalled after missing the previous international break through injury, while Le Havre midfielder Rassoul Ndiaye has returned to the senior setup for the first time in 18 months and is in contention to earn his second cap.

Strasbourg defender Mamadou Sarr - on loan from Chelsea - and 17-year-old Paris Saint-Germain winger Ibrahim Mbaye have both earned their first international call-ups and could make their Senegal debuts this weekend.

Sadio Mane scored twice against Brazil in the aforementioned 4-2 win for Senegal in 2023 and the Al-Nassr attacker is likely to start on Saturday, while Nicolas Jackson, Iliman Ndiaye and Ismaila Sarr could also feature in the final third.

Brazil possible starting lineup:

Ederson; Wesley, Marquinhos, Gabriel, C. Henrique; Casemiro, Guimaraes; Estevao, Paqueta, Rodrygo; Vinicius Jr

Senegal possible starting lineup:

E. Mendy; A. Mendy, Koulibaly, Niakhate, Diouf; P. Sarr, Gueye; I. Sarr, Ndiaye, Mane; Jackson

We say: Brazil 2-2 Senegal

Senegal are certainly the form team heading into this weekend’s contest and this friendly should serve as a far more valuable exercise for Thiaw’s team ahead of AFCON, while Ancelotti is still in the experimental phase with Brazil.

Goals are to be expected in this one considering the attacking talent that is set to be on display, but we are backing Senegal to come away from London with at least a share of the spoils.

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