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Manager Title Facing tough decisions across the Selecao squad Brazil face Serbia in their World Cup opener today.
Perhaps the manager’s toughest selection call will come in his forward line; Richarlison started Brazil’s warm-up win against Tunisia at center forward and could push Gabriel Jesus back into a key role, while Rafinha’s two goals in that game were enough to earn him a starting spot.
Reports from Brazil training this week indicated Vinicius Jr is in contention for a start, although Tite feels he needs two more defensive midfielders to balance out Manchester United pair Fred and Casemiro.
Chelsea will be led by Thiago Silva and will re-establish a defensive partnership with Marquinhos after a long break as Paris Saint-Germain team members.
Aleksandar Mitrovic looks set to be fit to start the tournament for Serbia after a few months out injured at Fulham.
With Dusan Vlahovic leading the way alongside Luka Jovic, a striker is not needed from the start.
Dragan Stojkovic opted for a 4-3-3 formation in last week’s win over Bahrain, but has favored a 3-5-2 in recent months.
The Serbia manager has plenty of versatile midfield options to play with, with Dusan Tadic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic both starters and able to operate in different roles.
