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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Alex Milne

Liverpool pair Alisson and Roberto Firmino give Brazil timely boost ahead of Copa America

Liverpool duo Alisson Becker and Roberto Firmino are back in contention for a place in the Brazil side for their final Copa America warm-up match against Honduras on Sunday.

The Champions League-winning pair joined up with the squad on Friday to increase the options of Brazil coach Tite, who also has Chelsea star Willian available.

Their arrival represents a timely boost to the camp after Neymar was ruled out of the tournament with an ankle ligament injury suffered in the recent win over Qatar.

The absence of the Paris St Germain striker prompted Tite to turn to Willian over other popular choices, most notably Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr.

The return of Firmino will come as a boost (RODRIGO JIMENEZ/EPA-EFE/REX)

Tite is not expected to play his full first-choice starting line-up against Honduras, although Alisson is in line to replace Manchester City number one Ederson.

Firmino is likely to be given more time to bed in with the squad, meaning another start for another City player, Gabriel Jesus, who scored the second goal in the 2-0 win over Qatar.

Brazil, who kick off their Copa America campaign against Bolivia in Sao Paolo on Friday, will look to enhance their status as tournament favourites following their relatively low-key win over the Qataris.

New Honduras coach Fabian Coito is looking for improvement from his side as they build up towards their own Gold Cup campaign.

Neymar has been ruled out of the tournament (Getty Images)

Successive draws against Ecuador and Paraguay have increased positivity in the Honduran camp, as has a favourable Gold Cup draw which pits them against Jamaica, El Salvador and Curacao.

Brazil have not won the Copa America since 2007 when they beat Venezuela in the final but have won the competition eight times in their history. Chile have triumphed in the previous two editions of the tournament.

They are favourites to win on their own patch, however, with rivals Argentina and Uruguay also heavily fancied.

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