Fabinho doubts he will play for Liverpool v Watford due to Brazil schedule

It's been a while since Brazil had a home crowd advantage.

The Brazilian team will have home fans in the stadium for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began when it hosts Uruguay in a World Cup qualifier on Thursday.

Brazil leads South American qualifying with 28 points.

If Tuesday's training in Manaus counts, Brazil coach Tite will test three new starters against Uruguay: Right-back Emerson Royal will replace Danilo, defender Lucas Verissimo will replace Marquinhos and winger Raphinha will take the place of Gabriel ' Gabigol' Barbosa.

Brazil's unimpressive 3-1 win at Venezuela and Sunday's 0-0 draw with Colombia did not show the team's backbone and added pressure on playmaker Neymar.

But there's no doubt that Tite will continue experimenting with his lineup and combinations.

A win will give Brazil 31 points, which is more than every team that qualified to the World Cup in fourth position since the current format was put in place in 1998.

They will have at least another six matches in qualifying.