Brazil Under-23s face Egypt Under-23s in the Olympic Games quarter-finals on Saturday. As Brazil may reach the semi-finals for the fourth consecutive time, here’s our football prediction – Brazil vs Egypt.
Meanwhile, Egypt hopes to reach the semi-final, final four, stage of the competition after 57 years. They may qualify to the semi-finals for the first time since the 1964 Olympics, which, incidentally, also occured in Tokyo.
Team news
Brazil
- Brazil will welcome back Douglas Luiz after the Aston Villa midfielder’s suspension for their victory over Saudi Arabia (live football).
- The 23-year-old will return to Jardine’s starting lineup, with Matheus Henrique dropping back out instead.
- Gardine’s lone change of the tournament has been an enforced switch. So, it would be surprising to see any others at this stage of the competition, especially given their excellent form.
Brazil Under-23s possible starting lineup: Santos; Alves, Nino, Carlos, Arana; Luiz, Guimaraes; Antony, Cunha, Claudinho; Richarlison
Egypt
- Egypt, meanwhile, will likely use the 3-5-2 system that served them well in their 2-0 win over Australia (football prediction).
- Therefore, given the impressive nature of this last victory, they will likely not undergo any personnel changes.
- Former West Bromwich Albion defender Ahmed Hegazi, who is captaining his national team as an over-age player at the Olympics, will lead Gharieb’s well-drilled defensive unit from the middle of the back three.
Egypt Under-23s possible starting lineup: El Shenawy; Galal, Hegazi, Hamdy; El Eraki, Mohamed, Tawfik, Sobhi, El Fotouh; Mohsen, Rayyan
Football Prediction – Brazil vs Egypt
- Spain named six players in their squad who helped the senior team reach the Euro 2020 semi-finals earlier in July. And along with them, Brazil surely has the most talented squad at their disposal in this year’s Olympics.
- As a result, Brazil head coach Jardine will be expecting nothing less than a comfortable win against Egypt on Saturday. The team will try to conserve energy ahead of a potential semi-final clash with the Spaniards.
- Shawky Gharieb’s Egpyt team has shown its worth, and is a danger against a more talented Brazilian team on Saturday. Egypt only conceded one goal in their three Olympic games so far.
Finally, though, we expect Brazil to have too much class across the pitch. So, we don’t expect Egypt to hold on for the duration of the game.
However, given Egypt’s impressive defensive record, it would not be surprising if the Brazilians had to be patient. They may have to put up a real fight in order to book their fourth consecutive Olympic semi-final.
