Palmeiras turns to under-20 players and may have even younger players in the classic

Palmeiras has only 16 out of 29 athletes available for the classic against Santos on the weekend. Facing this situation, the coaching staff turned to a trio from the under-20 team to have more options among the called-up players, and some under-17 boys may also travel to the coast. On the official club website, the professional team page lists 29 names, but only 16 (three are goalkeepers) of them can be available against Santos: goalkeepers Aranha, Carlos Miguel, and Marcelo Lomba, defenders Benedetti, Bruno Fuchs, Micael, and Murilo, full-backs Giay, Khellven, Jefté, midfielders Aníbal Moreno, Felipe Anderson, Maurício, and Veiga, and forwards Bruno Rodrigues and Luighi. There are 13 absences in total: Weverton (injured), Gustavo Gómez (called up), Piquerez (called up), Allan (suspended), Andreas Pereira (suspended), Emi Martínez (called up), Figueiredo (injured), Lucas Evangelista (injured), Facundo Torres (called up), Flaco López (called up), Paulinho (injured), Ramon Sosa (called up), and Vitor Roque (called up). Three under-20 players are expected to be included by Abel Ferreira for the classic: midfielder Larson, and forwards Riquelme Fillipi and Erick Belé. The under-20 team is on vacation, but this trio had been training with the professional team for a few weeks. Larson, in fact, could appear among the starters. Palmeiras has no natural option for a number 8, and the player stood out in the under-20 team playing in that position.