The Brazilian Serie A is slowly reaching the final stage of its season, with most clubs having already played 28+ games. The race for the Golden Boot is still very much up in the air, so I have decided to take a look at the most impressive number nines from the Brasileirao.

The first name we will look at may be one familiar to those who don’t regularly follow the league. This name is Gabriel Barbosa. The former Inter player is still only 24 years old, and after winning the Copa Libertadores in the previous season with Flamengo, many supporters already forecasted his return to one of the European top leagues. Unfortunately, due to injuries, he has only played 15 games this season, which would result in some problems in Flamengo’s attacking selection. That’s where Pedro enters.

The 23-year-old Pedro is also a Serie A reject, (looks like there is a pattern in Flamengo’s transfer policy) who used to play for Fiorentina before returning to Brazil. Before the lockdown, Pedro only played sparingly, but Gabigol’s injury gave him a window of opportunity. He certainly seized this opportunity. The young striker played 25 games scoring 11 goals, and created the highest xG/90 stat during this time.

Another interesting name on the list is Internacional’s Thiago Galhardo who, at 31 years of age, is running into the tail end of his career. With 16 goals he is currently the top scorer of the competition and has had an undeniable part in Internacional’s second place ranking on the table.

The Brasileirao is always packed with gems, so I can’t finish the piece without mentioning at least two future prospects:

The first one is the 20 years-old Brenner, who emerged as Sao Paulo’s most prolific goalscorer since football returned in July. Brenner has netted 11 goals so far in the league and his performances have already drawn attention from top clubs such as Arsenal, PSG and Juventus.

The second is one of RB Bragantino’s brightest prospects, Allerrandro. The young number nine has only played slightly over 1000 minutes, but his stats projected per 90 minutes are looking very promising and suggest that it is worth keeping an eye on his future progress.