Preview: Gremio vs Flamengo - prediction, team news, lineups

Gremio and Flamengo go head to head at the Arena do Gremio in Porto Alegre in round 15 of the Brasileirao Serie A on Sunday evening.

The match pits a Tricolor side trying to pull clear of the bottom of the table against a second-placed outfit coming fresh from a chaotic Sudamericana outing in Medellin on Thursday night.

Match preview

Gremio take to the field at home on the back of their best defensive run of the season, with five consecutive clean sheets, a feat they had not managed since 2022, while picking up three wins and two draws across that stretch.

Over the course of the year as a whole, Tricolor are conceding just 0.87 goals per game and have already kept 14 clean sheets, representing 46.7% of all matches played.

Their most recent result came in the Copa Sudamericana, when they cruised to a commanding 3-0 victory over Deportivo Riestra at the Estadio Pedro Bidegain in Buenos Aires.

Back home, the Immortals picked up 17 points from 14 matches to sit 14th in the Brasileirao standings, with Luis Castro's men claiming four wins and five draws, while suffering five defeats.

Despite the defensive improvement, their head-to-head record against Flamengo tells a different story, having lost and managed just three wins from the last 15 meetings between the two teams. Their most recent encounter ended 1-1 in the Brasileirao back in August 2025.

In the Sudamericana, Gremio relieved growing pressure after their win at the Nuevo Gasometro and moved up to second place in Group F with seven points, two behind leaders Montevideo City Torque and three ahead of Riestra in third.

Flamengo head into the weekend unbeaten in nine matches across all competitions, but Thursday’s Copa Libertadores Group A clash against Independiente Medellin was abandoned after widespread disorder in the stands of the Atanasio Girardot stadium.

CONMEBOL may yet award a 3-0 walkover to Mengao, and should that happen, Jose Barros's men would open up a four-point lead over second-placed Estudiantes with 10 points from four games.

In the Brasileirao, Flamengo sit second in the league standings with 27 points from 13 matches, sit six points adrift of leaders Palmeiras, albeit with one game in hand.

Their record of eight wins, three draws and two defeats helps underpin their status as favourites this weekend even away from home, where they are unbeaten in five of their six league matches since the start of February.

Gremio Brasileiro form:

Gremio form (all competitions):

Flamengo Brasileiro form:

Flamengo form (all competitions):

Team News

Gremio remain without the services of Arthur and Nardoni, who are both injured, with Noriega and Leo Perez expected to form the central midfield pairing.

The good news is that the team welcomes back two important players in centre-back Viery and striker Carlos Vinicius, who both served suspensions in the last round against Athletico-PR and return to provide strong options for Castro.

Tiaguinho is also competing for a midfield spot after six successive appearances off the bench. The youngster featured in the win over Deportivo Riestra and emerges as another viable alternative for the clash against the Red-and-Blacks.

For Flamengo, full-back Alex Sandro is the only absentee through suspension, having picked up his third yellow card in the 2-2 draw against Vasco last Sunday. In his absence, young left-back Johnny from the Under-20 side has been called up by Jardim and could feature in Porto Alegre.

Midfielder Arrascaeta remains sidelined with a fractured collarbone and is not expected back until mid-June. Lucas Paqueta is also ruled out with a thigh injury, while Erick Pulgar rounds off the list of absentees due to a shoulder problem.

Gremio possible starting lineup:

Weverton; Balbuena, Martins Viery; Pavon, Perez, Noriega, Mec, Gabriel; Amuzu, Vinicius

Flamengo possible starting lineup:

Rossi; Varela, Ortiz, Pereira, Lucas; Araujo, Jorginho, Carrascal; Plata, Lino, Pedro

We say: Gremio 1-2 Flamengo

Leonardo Jardim will be without four key names, including Alex Sandro, Arrascaeta, Paqueta and Pulgar, and despite Carrascal’s return from suspension, Flamengo loses some of its creativity at the centre of the park, an area where the team tends to make the difference.

As for Gremio, the challenge is to sustain a solid defensive structure for 90 minutes against an attack that, though weakened, remains one of the most lethal in the division. The outlook points to a more tightly contested game than is usual between these two clubs, with the outcome likely to end in a Flamengo victory.

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