The anticipated duel between Flamengo and Palmeiras next Sunday (19) will feature two players wearing the number 9 jersey with high potential to be decisive at the Maracanã.
Pedro and Vitor Roque put in good performances in their teams’ games this Wednesday (15) and come into the leader-vs.-runner-up clash in the Brasileirão in great form.
The two also share the difficult moments they have had to overcome throughout the season.
Getting into the spirit of the head-to-head battle for the top of the Brasileirão, OneFootball sums up here the forwards’ numbers and their main storylines this year.
The numbers in 2025
Vitor Roque arrived at Palmeiras in the final stretch of the Campeonato Paulista.
To make the comparison fairer, we considered only the competitions in which both took part this year.
That is, we included numbers from the Brasileirão, Copa do Brasil, Libertadores, and Club World Cup.
Statistics from OGol
Pedro
Brasileirão: 20 games, 11 goals, and 5 assists
Libertadores: 9 games, 2 goals, 0 assists
Copa do Brasil: 3 games, 1 goal, 1 assist
Club World Cup: 3 games, 0 goals, 0 assists
Total: 35 games, 14 goals, and 6 assists (in 1,704 minutes)
Vitor Roque
Brasileirão: 25 games, 12 goals, and 3 assists
Libertadores: 8 games, 4 goals, 1 assist
Copa do Brasil: 4 games, 0 goals, 0 assists
Club World Cup: 5 games, 0 goals, 0 assists
Total: 42 games, 16 goals, 4 assists (2,765 minutes)
Highs and lows
Pedro
Pedro is having another goal-filled season at Flamengo, but once again an off-field issue shook his year.
The forward was the target of strong criticism from coach Filipe Luís in a press conference in July.
“Pedro’s behavior and attitude during the week… It was lamentable, bordering on ridiculous,” he said after a Brasileirão win over São Paulo (see the full statement below).
The number 9 returned to the field a week later, coming off the bench in the second half, and scored the winner in the derby against Fluminense.
At the end of August, he scored six goals across a run of three matches.
Despite that, Pedro has alternated between starter and substitute since Filipe Luís’s public criticism.
The latest decisive display in the derby against Botafogo gave even more arguments for those who want the forward as a “fixed” piece in the starting lineups.
Vitor Roque
The most expensive signing in Brazilian football history, Vitor Roque took time to hit his stride at Palmeiras.
He neither scored nor assisted in his first 12 games for his new club.
His first goal came against Vasco in early May. And the forward repeated the feat in the next two matches.
Despite the improved performances, he still wasn’t living up to the investment.
The turning point came with the formation of his partnership with Flaco López. Instead of competing for one spot in the starting XI, they became partners.
The change made the football of both forwards (and of Palmeiras as a whole) grow impressively.
Of the 16 goals scored by Vitor Roque for Palmeiras, 12 have come in his last 14 matches for the club.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.
