Brazil’s players are put through their paces in Russia ahead of Friday’s game (pic: Mowa Press)

Brazil’s players have been training in Moscow ahead of their friendly match with Russia tomorrow. Tite has not confirmed his starting line up but it looks likely that Thiago Silva will start in place of Marquinhos.

Ismaily, Brazil’s new left back who was named after a boy trying to buy a bike for £4 in a 1956 movie, is expected to start on the bench with Marcelo starting at left back. In fact, Tite’s line up (as is normally the case in friendlies) looks like it will be full strength given the players available to him. Neymar, of course, is out with an injury and it looks like Douglas Costa will take his place on the left hand side of a front three. Willian, who has been tearing it up for Chelsea recently, starts on the right with Gabriel Jesus in the centre. Marquinhos isn’t injured but it seems that Thiago Silva may have edged his way ahead of his PSG teammate in Tite’s thinking. I remember thinking during the Real Madrid v PSG game that Thiago Silva was looking more solid than Marquinhos – it is good to know that my hazy thoughts while slightly tipsy in a crowded pub are the same as those of the Brazilian national team.

The full line up is likely to be this:

Alisson, Daniel Alves, Thiago Silva, Miranda and Marcelo; Casemiro, Paulinho and Coutinho; Willian, Douglas Costa and Gabriel Jesus.

The match kicks off at 4pm UK time (1pm Brazil) on Friday. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to be TV in the UK. The venue for the game is the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow, which is newly built and will host the opening match of the World Cup and the World Cup final.

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