Santos FC are set to put Neymar and Gabigol back in the starting lineup on Saturday, July 25, when Chapecoense visit at 18h30 in the 20th round of the Brasileirão. It is a familiar gamble for a team that has won only once in nine matches with the two starting together.
The only victory in that run came in February, when Santos beat Velo Clube 6-0 in the Campeonato Paulista. Since then, the pairing has produced five draws and three losses, with Santos scoring nine goals and conceding 11 in those nine games.
That is why the search around Neymar now is less about star power than about output. Santos have played 37 matches this season, winning 11, drawing 14 and losing 12 for a 42.3% success rate, but the numbers shift depending on who is on the field. With Neymar in the lineup, Santos have played 15 matches, won six times and reached a 51.1% success rate, while conceding an average of one goal per game. Gabigol has played 27 matches, with Santos winning eight of them and taking 43.2% of the available points, while conceding 1.22 goals per game.
Even that broader picture carries a catch. Santos have won only one of the eight matches they played without Neymar and Gabigol, and that came on Tuesday, July 21, against UCV in Venezuela in the Sul-Americana. The other seven without the pair brought three draws and four losses, for a 25% success rate, which shows the problem is not limited to one partnership. The club has managed one win from its last nine starts for the two attackers together, and only one win from eight matches without them, a split that explains why the attack has not yet changed the season as hoped.
Chapecoense arrive with nine points and only one win in the Brasileirão, though that lone victory came against Santos in the opening round in January. Santos have 21 points and sit one point above Vasco, so the match at Vila Belmiro is not just another chance for Neymar and Gabigol to click. It is a test of whether Santos can turn a return to its most talked-about front line into a result that actually moves the table.
