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Ecuador invite Brazil to La Casa Blanca in their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture on Thursday.
The hosts are third in the CONMEBOL qualifying rankings and have a six-point advantage over fourth-placed Colombia while they trail second-placed Argentina by six points.
Brazil have enjoyed a flawless run in the qualifiers so far and have already qualified for the finals. The two sides met in matchday 7 of the qualifiers in June last year. Brazil secured a comfortable 2-0 win at the Estádio Beira-Rio in the reverse fixture.
Ecuador vs Brazil Head-to-Head
The two sides have crossed paths 34 times across all competitions. Seleção have dominated the proceedings in the fixture and have emerged victorious on 27 occasions while the hosts have just two wins to their name. The spoils have been shared five times in this fixture.
Brazil are on an 11-game unbeaten run against La Tri, beating them eight times in this period.
Ecuador form guide (All competitions): D-W-W-W-D
Brazil form guide (World Cup Qualifiers): D-W-W-D-W
Ecuador vs Brazil Team News
Ecuador
Byron Castilo and Luis Fernando Leon had to drop out of the squad on account of injuries. Head coach Gustavo Alfaro included Aron Rodriguez and Jose Cifuentes as their replacements, taking the number of players in the squad for the two qualifying games to 29.
Injury: Byron Castillo, Luis Fernando Leon
Suspension: None
Brazil
Neymar is a key absentee for Tite, who has named a 26-man squad for the upcoming qualifiers. Dani Alves has returned to the roster and might be included in the starting XI.
Fabinho and Lucas Paqueta will miss the game on account of suspension following an accumulation of two yellow cards in the qualifying campaign.
Injury: Neymar
Suspension: Fabinho, Lucas Paqueta
Ecuador vs Brazil Predicted XI
Ecuador Predicted XI (4-4-2): Alexander Dominguez; Robert Arboleda, Félix Torres, Piero Hincapie, Pervis Estupiñán; Angelo Preciado, Joao Joshimar Rojas, Moises Caicedo, Alan Franco; Enner Valencia, Jordy Caicedo
Brazil Predicted XI (4-4-2): Ederson Moraes; Dani Alves, Eder Militao, Thiago Silva, Alex Sandro; Bruno Guimares, Fred, Everton Ribeiro, Gerson; Gabriel Barbosa, Vinicius Jr.
Ecuador vs Brazil Prediction
Ecuador have just one loss in their home fixtures in the qualifying campaign so far and are the second-highest scoring team in the qualifiers after Brazil. They are expected to hold their ground against the visitors.
Brazil, having already qualified for the finals, might take a breather in the game but having dropped points just twice so far, are not expected to lose here. A high-scoring draw appears to be the most likely outcome.
Prediction: Ecuador 2-2 Brazil
