Sao Paulo Vs Corinthians arrives on Wednesday at 21:30 in Vila Belmiro, a derby that lands in the 34ª rodada do Campeonato Brasileiro with more than local pride at stake. Globo, Premiere and ge tv will show it live, while ge will follow every minute as both teams walk into a match that can shift the table at the bottom.
For Sao Paulo, the number in front of the game is simple: two more points would take it to 45 points, the safety mark that keeps a team from looking over its shoulder in a relegation fight. Corinthians starts the round in 17th place with 36 points, so the derby is not just a rivalry match for it; it is another night trying to pull clear of danger.
Artur is available again after recovering from a trauma in the lumbar region, and he is set to start for Sao Paulo. That gives Dorival Júnior a rare full deck in attack, with Rafael, Newton, Arboleda, Osorio or Toloi, Pedro Lima, Djhordney or Pablo Maia, Bobadilla, Iago, Artur, Lucas or Luciano and Calleri among the expected options. It is the first time he has had all of his main attacking players available for selection, and that matters in a game where one moment can decide whether a season keeps drifting or finally steadies.
Corinthians comes in with a little more momentum than it had a week ago, but the picture is still uneasy. The team snapped a ten-match winless run by beating Mirassol 2-0 in the previous round, yet it remained in the relegation zone. Matheuzinho will miss the match because of an automatic suspension for his third yellow card, so Pedro Milans is the favorite to step in, while Seedorf is expected to keep the same base used in recent matches with Hugo Souza, Pedro Milans, André Ramalho, Gustavo Henrique, Fabrizio Angileri, André, Breno Bidon, Rodrigo Garro, Matheus Bidu, Kaio César or Dieguinho and Yuri Alberto.
The derby also puts two forwards with very different numbers under the same lights. Calleri has ten goals in twenty-seven games and two assists, while Yuri Alberto has four goals in twenty-two games and two assists; Yuri Alberto also carries a 42% finishing accuracy, compared with 32% for Calleri. That gap does not settle anything before kickoff, but it does show why both benches will spend the night trusting margins rather than comfort. When the whistle goes in Vila Belmiro, Sao Paulo will be chasing the points that end the debate around safety, and Corinthians will be trying to prove that one win has changed more than the scoreline from last week.
